


Foiled Plans

by nachocheese26



Category: New Girl
Genre: AU, F/M, Kid Fic, What-If
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-05-02 20:24:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 53,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14552841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nachocheese26/pseuds/nachocheese26
Summary: AU fic. Jessica Day had a life plan. But it's derailed after she loses her virginity to some guy at a bar who insisted on calling her Bug Eyes. Six years later, Nick Miller's life plan is to coast through life unnoticed with minimal attachments. But the new neighbor's bug-eyed kid somehow managed to squirm his way into his shriveled up heart. Plans are made to be foiled, right?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing

In life, there is one thing Jess has learned to expect. Everything that you are expecting to happen, will not happen. Most of the time, the complete opposite will happen.

For example, when Huxley was taking extra time this morning in getting ready for school, Jess expected it was because he didn’t want to go to school. Or when Jess checked his forehead right before they walked out the door, Jess expected he felt warm because he insisted on wearing flannel that day. And when the elevator doors opened, Jess expected to give her neighbor a polite nod as he walked out of the elevator and she walked in with Huxley.

Was that the case? No. Oh, it was so far from the truth, Jess would’ve laughed if it wasn’t for the horrified look on her neighbor’s face.

“I work in a damn bar! Do you understand?! A damn bar and this never happens to me!”

Jess stared at him with her wide eyes and covered Huxley’s ears. “Language!” she hissed.

He threw his hands in the air. “Your kid just got his sick all over me and you’re concerned about me yelling damn?!”

Jess ignored him as she checked Huxley’s forehead again. It felt warmer than it did earlier. Her phone began ringing and Jess muttered a cure under her breath.

And of course, it was followed by a laugh from the man still standing there. “And you’re concerned that I’m going to give the kid a sailor mouth?”

Jess glared at him, ignoring the phone and placing her hands on Huxley’s shoulders. “Alright, I’m sorry for what happened. You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

He shook his head and looked down at his pants. “Now I have to actually wash these,” he grumbled.

“I can wash them for you,” Jess offered. “I’m already going to miss work, might as well add one more thing to my list of things I didn’t plan,”

He looked back up with a frown. “Are you serious?”

Jess shrugged. “I’m kind of a pro at getting vomit stains out,”

He rolled his eyes stared up at the ceiling for a moment, before looking back down at her. “Fine. You can wash my pants.”

“Perfect, let me get this guy settled back in bed and I will get to the washing of your pants,” Jess said, ushering Huxley back down the hallway.

* * *

Schmidt was finishing up his coffee when Nick walked in. Schmidt was about to say good morning, but Nick slammed the door and kept walking to his room. He frowned, glancing at Winston.

Winston was shaking his head, looking down at his bowl of oatmeal. “I think it was a rough night at the bar. He’s got vomit all over his pants,”

“It’s his own fault. He had so much potential, but he just had to drop out of law school. He says he’s the least emotional man there is, but that’s a lie! Why did he drop out? Because of a girl,” Schmidt ranted.

“Aw, just leave him alone. Nick’s a grown man who can work wherever he wants to. Besides, we get free drinks after closing,”

“Winston, we’re not in college anymore. How often are we actually at the bar after closing?”

Nick came back out before Winston could answer. He changed into sweat pants and carried his soiled pants.

“Uh, Nick, where are you going?” Schmidt asked.

“To get the pants washed,” Nick grumbled, stopping at the door.

“We have a washer here that works perfectly fine,”

“Yeah, but we don’t have detergent,”

Winston furrowed his brows. “We have a huge bottle of Tide. And I know because I just bought it last week. There ain’t no way Schmidt’s already gone through the whole thing,”

“Please, Winston, I use my own detergent. I can’t wash my deluxe sheets with just any detergent,”

“Point is, we have some. So where are you taking those pants?”

“Wait, are you talking about that huge orange bottle? That’s detergent?”

“…yes, it is,”

“Huh, that makes sense now,”

Schmidt pinched the bridge of his nose, not wanting to know what was just illuminated for Nick. “So again, why are you taking those pants somewhere else to get washed?”

“Because it was the neighbor’s kid that threw up all over me, so she’s going to wash them,”

“Wait, the neighbor in Mrs. Beverley’s old place?” Winston asked.

“I wonder how they managed to get that smell out…”

“Point is, I’m taking my pants to her because she knows how to get these stains out and if it wasn’t for her kid, I wouldn’t have a stain to get out in the first place,” Nick walked out before they could ask him anymore questions.

He walked the short distance down the hall to 4C and knocked. He waited, but no one answered. Nick knocked again, opening the door for himself this time. “Hello?”

Jess poked her head out from a room down the hall. She was on the phone and waved him in before going back in the room.

Nick walked in, extremely grateful that he decided to look down because right at the entrance was a puddle of vomit. “Look, I can just drop them off here on the counter. It’s no big deal,” Nick called out, taking only a few more steps in and stopping.

Jess came back out. “Yes, I know I’ve already used up my allotted sick days, but…” Jess rolled her eyes, gesturing to her phone as she walked towards him. She grabbed the pants from him and took them into the kitchen. She dropped them in the sink that she had filled with water and soap before he got there. “Did you not hear me? I have a sick kid! What do you expect me to do?!”

Nick stood there awkwardly, wondering if maybe he should just slowly back out and come back in a few hours for his pants.

There was retching coming from one of the rooms and Jess groaned. “Look, I’ll call you right back,” Jess hung up and ran to the room, not even bothering to dry her hands.

Nick decided that yes, he should leave. And maybe he should go ahead and take his pants and wash them himself. She seemed like she already had her hands full…

“God, I hope that was the last of it,” Jess said as she came back out, a pail in her hands that was full of stuff that Nick did not want to see. Of course, she didn’t show it to him. She set it down by the trashcan and went back to the sink, grabbing the pants and rubbing at them with renewed vigor. “I mean, can you believe them? They want to fire me because I can’t go in!”

Nick silently cursed. Yes, he should’ve just dropped the pants off at the door, knocked, then run back into the loft.

“It’s crazy! Yeah, I’ve already used up all my vacation days, but come on! How do they expect me to find someone to watch Huxley right now?! Everyone’s at work and…” Jess stopped, turning to look at Nick. She gave him an odd look before quickly shaking her head and turning her attention back to the pants.

Nick pursed his lips. He knew exactly what she was about to ask him. He dropped his head as he knew exactly what he was about to say. “I can watch him. I just got off work, so you don’t have to worry about that,”

Jess turned to look at him, her eyes bugging out. Nick wanted to close her eyelids just a little bit. “Are you serious?”

“Why not? It’s the nice neighborly thing to do, right? And I’m not a pervert, I swear,”

Jess took the pants out and wrung them tightly. “You’re in 4D, right?”

Nick nodded with only a hint of confusion on his face. “Oh, perfect, I already cleared you guys to watch Huxley in case of an emergency like this,”

“Wait, what?”

Jess shrugged. “I had my friend get a list of everyone living on this floor and run background checks on them. I’m a mom. Mom’s think about these things,” Jess said as if that explained everything. “Let me throw this in the washer and I’ll be right back to give you a few directions,”

Nick watched her run down the hall, wondering what kind of friends she had that could actually do something like that.

She was back moments later with a piece of paper in her hands that she stuck on the fridge. “Okay, so right now I’m thinking it’s just a stomach bug, but if you notice he’s complaining about his body hurting, call me right away. It’s probably the flu in that case. My number is right there on the fridge,”

Jess opened up a cabinet and pulled out a few medicine bottles. “This is for headaches and fever reductions. This is for stomach aches. Don’t give him any kind of dairy or anything that’s super heavy on the stomach. Pantry over there is stocked with saltine crackers and canned chicken soup. If he doesn’t want to eat anything, get him to at least try for some crackers,” Jess looked around, making sure she didn’t forget anything. “Oh, his name is Huxley and I’m Jess,” she held out her hand for a handshake.

Nick took it. “Nick Miller. But apparently you knew that already,”

Jess laughed. “Yeah, but I didn’t have a face for the name, so there you go,” Nick shook his head.

“Anything else I should know?”

“No, I’ve covered pretty much everything,” Jess walked to the door and picked up her bag from the floor. “Seriously, Nick, thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me,”

“Just go on. I can take care of things,” Jess caught Nick off guard when she pulled him in for a hug. “Thank you so much!” she gave him a big smile and was out the door.

Nick took a deep breath and looked at the closed door. Well, might as well pick up the mess off the floor.

* * *

The buzzer on the washer had gone off ten minutes ago. Nick stood in front of it for nine minutes, trying to figure out how to even open the door. For the fourth time since coming to stand in front of the machine, Nick pulled at the door and willed it to open. But it would not budge.

“You have to take off the child lock,”

Nick jumped and spun around. Huxley was standing there, clutching the pail in front of him. “You know how to work this thing?”

Huxley looked at him with a tried frown. He moved past Nick, held a button down for a few seconds, then the machine beeped and the lock was undone. “There. Now, you just put it in the dryer and set the timer,”

Nick nodded, opening the door with ease. “Thanks, kid,” he pulled out the pants and stuck them in the dryer. He stared at the buttons and knobs and the machine. Why were there so many?!

Huxley sighed loudly as he reached over, turned a knob, pressed a button, and the dryer turned on. Nick turned to look at Huxley. “Right, so I’m Nick-“

“My mom left me a note.”

“Right…” Nick stared at him and Huxley stared back. The kid looked nothing like Jess. Probably the only thing he got from her were his bug eyes. But even those were brown instead of blue.

Nick pressed the back of his hand to Huxley’s forehead. “Well, you don’t feel too warm. Probably a low-grade fever now,” he pulled his hand back. “How’s your stomach?”

Huxley shrugged and looked down at the pail. “I kept the pail empty,”

“And that is a good sign,” Nick smiled. But it faded as Huxley stared back expectantly. “So, um…I don’t know, what do kids do when they’re sick all day?”

“Watch cartoons and sleep,”

“Cool, sounds like my kind of day,”

* * *

Nick pulled out his phone and checked the time. It was ten after five. Weren’t schools over by three? Was there some new law that came out the extended school hours? Maybe he should call Jess…

The door opened before he could follow that train of thought and Jess came in with arms loaded with grocery bags. “I’m home!” she announced, dropping the bags on the kitchen counter.

Huxley looked away from the TV to give a quick greeting before watching the screen again.

Jess walked up to and kissed his forehead. “How’s my Hux Bug?”

Huxley just shrugged in response.

And of course, Jess turned to Nick for her answer.

“He’s fine. Just woke up from a nap actually. Ate probably a third of a soup can and some crackers. He only threw up once more, but that was in the morning and he’s been good ever since,” Nick summarized, standing up to leave.

“And his fever?”

“It went away a little before noon and hasn’t been back since,”

Jess nodded in approval, looking back at Huxley. “Well, bud, sounds like it was just a 24-hour bug. You are going back to school tomorrow.”

Huxley scrunched up his nose, but didn’t protest.

“Well, you’re back, I have my clean pants, I’m leaving,” Nick announced, walking backwards for the door.

“Oh, Nick, wait! I wanted to thank you, so how does dinner sound?”

Nick frowned. “Now?”

“Yeah, I mean, that’s why I went to the grocery store. To buy all the stuff. What do you say?”

Nick couldn’t remember the last time he had a home-cooked meal. It sounded tempting.

“Okay, so I’m not going to lie, but I bought enough for your roommates too. We’ve been living here for almost two months already and I still haven’t met any of them. I mean, I’m barely meeting you. I don’t want to be a horrible neighbor anymore,”

“You’re not being a horrible neighbor. You’re just being a normal one,”

“Come on, let me cook dinner for you guys,”

Nick pursed his lips. “What are you going to make?”

“Lasagna sound good?”

* * *

An hour later, Nick was finally leaving Jess’ loft. With Jess and Huxley following after him. Jess held the casserole, Nick the garlic bread and his clean pants, and Huxley his pail that Jess insisted on him bringing in case something didn’t settle well. 

“I’m so excited to finally meet the rest of you guys! When Cece brought back the results of the background checks, you guys just sounded so awesome.”

Nick made a face. “It’d probably be best if you didn’t mention you ran a background check,”

“Aye, aye, Captain,”

Nick took a deep breath. She wast just dropping off dinner. Then, it would be a new day and he could pretend he had never met her in the first place. They stopped right at the door and Nick tried the door knob.

It was locked.

Nick groaned as he searched the pockets of his sweatpants. “Damn, I forget my keys.”

Jess glared at him after his curse, but Nick ignored her. He knocked, waiting and hoping one of the guys would open the door. It was Wednesday night. Where else would they be?

Schmidt was the one to open the door. He blinked a few times as he stared at Nick with Jess and Huxley.

“Hi neighbor!” Jess greeted.

Schmidt stared at her in horror, down at Huxley with growing horror, then back up at Nick with triple horror. “You leave for one day to get your pants washed and you come back to the loft playing _house_?!”

Nick rolled his eyes. “Come on, dude. I wasn’t gone all day-“

“The whole work day, Nick! You left before I did and came back after me!”

“Look, can you just let us in!”

Schmidt huffed before moving aside.

“Jess, this is Schmidt, Schmidt, Jess and Huxley, the new neighbors.”

“Why is he carrying a bucket?”

“Oh he’s kind of a loose canon right now. Who knows when his stomach might decide to revolt again,” Jess said with a laugh.

Schmidt stared at her, then back at Nick. Nick just shrugged.

“So, I know this is totally random, but I did ask Nick, and I made you guys some dinner. You know, as an introduction to maybe some really great conversations in the halls,” Jess said, holding up the casserole dish.

Winston came out of his room after hearing Schmidt yelling. But more importantly, after smelling the food. “Is that lasagna I smell?”

Nick pushed past Schmidt, allowing room for Jess and Huxley to come in right after him. “Yeah, our neighbor Jess made it for us,” Nick gestured to Winston. “This is Winston,”

Jess’ smile grew. “You’re the one that was in Latvia,” she said, sounding starstruck.

Winston frowned before his face brightened. “Wait, you’ve heard of me? You knew I played in Latvia?” he turned to Nick and Schmidt. “Why didn’t you guys tell me I was in the news here?!”

Schmidt still looked absolutely confused.

Nick cleared his throat. “Anyways, Jess! Isn’t it time to give Huxley his meds?”

“Oh, right, sorry Hux Bug, you know how Mommy can get sometimes,”

Huxley just stared at Jess before looking off into space again the way one does when they’re sick and full of meds.

“Well, here’s this lasagna I made for you guys, kind of just to introduce myself and also to thank Nick for today,” Jess said, handing the dish to Winston who happily took it. “I’d love to sit and chat a little bit, hear more about Latvia and your marketing job, Schmidt, but Nick is right. Hopefully, not too much time has passed since Huxley’s taken his medicine and he throws up all over Nick again,”

Jess laughed, but no one joined her.

She cleared her throat awkwardly. “Okay, well we’ll see you in the halls! It was so nice meeting you guys!”

“Bye Nick,” Huxley mumbled out.

“If I get sick in the next week, I’m coming after you, kid.”

Huxley smiled a little before Schmidt closed the door and stared at Nick.

Nick frowned. “What?”

“What the hell was that?!”

“I don’t know, but this stuff is good and…Nick is that garlic bread? Man, pass that stuff out!” Winston said, his mouth already full of lasagna.

Nick set the garlic bread down and grabbed a fork to dig into the lasagna. “Look, she was having a hard time with her kid and trying to get to work, so I offered some help,”

“And she just decided to trust you after you gave out all our information?”

Nick rolled his eyes. “She had one of her friends run background checks on us. I told her not to mention it because you guys would freak out and honestly, I did too, but she said she only did it because of her kid and if she needed us to watch him in case of an emergency. Like today,”

“Wait she did-? Nicholas! What have you just brought into our lives?! Now she’s going to coming over here every time something happens to try and drop her kid off on us!”

“Relax, dude,” Winston said, getting up to finally get himself a plate instead of eating out of the dish. “She’s been living here for at least three months now and hasn’t done what you’re accusing her of,”

“And besides, I offered. She didn’t ask me to watch him,”

Schmidt glared at them both before giving a loud huff. “Fine! But I’ll have you know that I do not want sticky finger prints all over this loft. It’s already hard enough keeping this place clean with Nick,”

* * *

A few days later, Nick was staring at the sticky fingerprints that covered the dining table. He scratched the back of his head, trying to remember what cleaner Schmidt used for the dining table. It was different than the kitchen table because that one was metal and this was wood. Apparently, you couldn’t use the same cleaner on it?

Nick groaned, deciding to just use a wet paper towel and elbow grease. “How’d you even get sticky fingerprints on here, kid?” Nick muttered.

Huxley shrugged. “Mom says boys are just always sticky,”

Nick looked up to glare at him. He rolled his eyes when he noticed he was chewing on a lollipop. Well, at least that explained the stickiness.

When Jess knocked on the door that morning, Nick should’ve said no. Turned her away and declared that yeah, even though they were cleared by her friend as good guys and capable of watching Huxley didn’t mean that they would.

But she swore it was only for a few hours until her friend got off of work. Whatever Huxley had earlier in the week had passed on to her. And even while she was still sick and just got through vomiting her guts up, Jess still managed to go on and on and over explain and analyze the situation.

Nick considered shutting the door in her face, but he didn’t. Huxley looked back and forth between him and Jess with such a hopeful look on his face. Nick hated himself, but he couldn’t say no.

Jess needed Huxley out of the apartment for 24-hours while she went through this bug cycle. Nick was supposed to keep an eye on him for a few hours until her friend came to pick him up. Huxley would spend the rest of the 24-hours with her. Or at least until Jess deemed the apartment contagion free.

“Where did you get that candy?” Nick asked.

“From my pocket. I forgot I had it and I haven’t let Mom wash these pants yet,” Huxley responded, moving to settle on the couch.

The explanation was good enough for Nick. He dropped it and kept cleaning off the table. “Hey, hey, just don’t get the remote all sticky too, all right?” Nick said as he heard the TV turn on.

Huxley grumbled something and flipped through the channels, stopping to settle on _How It’s Made_.

Nick stopped and watched the TV, trying not to immediately become mesmerized by the moving objects and the calming voice of the narrator. “No cartoons?”

Huxley shrugged. “I like this show the best,”

Well, he couldn’t argue there. That was a hell of a show.

Nick managed to un-sticky the table right before Schmidt walked in.

“Well, Nicholas, you can add another drug store to the list of ones we are not going to…” Schmidt trailed off as he looked at Huxley sitting comfortably on the couch and sucking away on his candy. “Who is this child?”

Huxley either didn’t hear Schmidt or chose to ignore him completely.

“That’s Huxley, remember?” Nick said, throwing the used paper towels away. “Jess asked me to watch him for a little bit,”

Schmidt narrowed his eyes, pointing an accusing finger at Nick. “I knew it! I knew you were too weak and that this was exactly what was going to happen!”

Nick rolled his eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“She’s going to try and push this kid on us every chance she gets! She’ll use the excuse as wanting him to have good male role-models, and I will admit I am a fantastic role model, you most certainly are not!”

“Mom said she wasn’t sure if she liked you and didn’t want to leave me with just you without Winston or Nick,” Huxley said, proving that he was in fact paying attention to their conversation.

Nick laughed. “Well, you have to admit that the kid’s got a point,”

Schmidt glared at Nick.

“Look, she got sick too and didn’t want him getting sick again. I’m only watching him until her friend shows up for him.”

“And I can guarantee you, she’s as strange as Jess is. Isn’t that right, Maxley?”

“It’s Huxley,” Nick corrected.

“Whatever. The point is, she’s already begun!”

“Begun what?”

“Taking advantage of us!” There was a knock at the door and Nick gave Schmidt a smug look. “See, I bet that’s her friend right now. It was only a few hours and you came just as her friend was coming to pick him up too. You weren’t the one that had to deal with him, so you have no right to complain,”

Schmidt glared at Nick as he moved to open the door. He did peek over Nick’s shoulder though and could completely understand why Nick said nothing once the door was open.

“Uh, hi, Jess said Huxley was over here. I’m Cece,”

“Aunt Cece!” Huxley exclaimed as he jumped up from the couch and ran to hug her legs.

Both Schmidt and Nick continued staring while Cece focused on the child clinging to her. “Hey there, Hux, you ready for a fun day?”

“Yes! Nick wouldn’t let me touch anything because he said I would get stuff sticky,”

“Hey, I have sore arms to prove just how sticky you made our table.”

Huxley stuck his tongue out at Nick, who immediately mimicked his expression.

Cece had a curious look on her face as she looked between Huxley and Nick, still making faces at each other. Nick seemed genuinely annoyed, but Huxley was struggling to keep a smile off his face. “He seems to really like you,”

Nick crossed his arms, glaring at Huxley for a few moments more before looking at Cece. “I don’t know why. I haven’t given him any reason to like me,”

Schmidt cleared his throat. “Oh Nicholas, he just always forgets how good he is with children. Of course, he isn’t as good as I am. You know, I was about to suggest that we take Huxley swimming. It’s such a beautiful day and…” Schmidt pulled his shirt off and subtly flexed. “There’s all kinds of beautiful things to watch at the pool,”

Nick groaned, “Jar, Schmidt,”

Without looking away from Cece, Schmidt pulled out a bill and handed it to Nick who stuck it in a jar filled with other bills.

“Right, Huxley, let’s go,”

“But are we really going swimming?”

“Your Aunt Cece can take you, but I’m not going. If I went, that would mean I’d have to take Schmidt and if he goes, then I’d probably have to buy a new d-bag jar and I really don’t want to,”

“Mom has a bunch of jars you can have,”

“Thank for the offer kid, but it’s still a no from me,”

“If he wants, I could join in-“

“Schmidt, no. Cece, it’s nice meeting you. Huxley, don’t ever bring candy in here again,” Nick said, letting them step out of the loft before closing the door.

“We have to invite Jess and Huxley over one day. And tell her to bring Cece,” Schmidt let out deep sigh, staring at the closed door. “Or you know what? We’ll just invite Cece. I can’t have Jess or the child ruining my seduction prowess,”

Nick shook his head as he walked away. “Jar, Schmidt!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up, this is kind of going through the second episode basically. Of course with changes, but just so you know...

Jess glanced behind her to the closed door of her apartment. She told Huxley that she was  just  going across the hall to get her casserole dish back from 4D. He was to stay at the table finishing his homework.

He would most likely be in the same spot when she came back. That didn’t mean he stayed in that same spot the entire time. There was a good chance something would  be destroyed  while Jess was out, but she needed the dish back.

Plus, it had been four days since she left Huxley with Nick. From the way Huxley talked about Nick, she would’ve thought he would make himself more available. But her neighbor made himself scarce.

No matter. Jess had a knack for breaking the shyest of turtles out their shells. 

Jess knocked on the door and waited, starting to hum to herself while waiting.

The door opened only a few moments later. It was Winston. “Oh, Jess, right?”

Jess smiled. “That’s right! And you’re Winston!”

He furrowed his brows, but still nodded.

“So…how’d you guys enjoy the lasagna?” 

Winston closed his eyes, bringing up the memory of the lasagna they finished in an hour. “Perfection. If that’s what you pay for watching your kid, bring him over anytime you like,”

Jess laughed. “Oh perfect! I’ll make sure to keep my pasta supply well-stocked. You never know when a stomach bug might pop up again. But I’m actually here to get my dish back,”

* * *

“Right, uh, go ahead and come on in. Schmidt  probably  put it away thinking it belongs to us.” 

Jess followed Winston into the loft and saw Nick and Schmidt tossing a basketball back and forth. “Oh hey, guys! Playing a little b-ball?”

"Well what do you know? Jess is here. Again,” Schmidt started off smiling at Jess, but then gave a pointed look to Nick.

Nick ignored him. “You play?”

Jess opened her hands in time to catch the ball from Nick.  “Well, I wouldn’t call myself a pro or anything, but I was pretty good at defense,” she began dribbling the ball and singing something about defense .

“Schmidt, where’s her dish?”  Winston stood in front of the open cabinets, hands on his waist as if expecting the dish to come floating out on command .

“You mean the one with flowers on it as if it belonged to a grandmother? I put way in the back of the cabinet, out of sight completely,” Schmidt said as he moved to sit on the couch.

Jess ignored the comment. “Hey Schmidt!” Jess called out before bouncing the ball in his direction. 

But she missed and hit the TV, destroying it completely.

“Found it!” Winston declared as he pulled out the dish, unaware of what  just  happened. But once he turned around, he saw the TV and everyone else standing in shock.

Jess took a step back while the guys moved closer to the recently departed member of the loft. Nick sat down and buried his face in his hands. “That was my TV, Jess.”

“It’s kind of all he had.” Schmidt threw in, heaping up the guilt.

Jess balanced the murder weapon on her hip. “I’ll get you a new one. I  just  can’t afford it right now.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what’s the plan?” Nick demanded.

Winston stared her down. “You don’t know me like that, but I need a TV.”

“I have an extra TV at my ex’s…” Jess mumbled.

“You left a TV there?” Schmidt asked, hoping for more details. About the TV. Not about the relationship.

Jess sighed. “Yeah, I do, it’s just really big and thin and bright,"

“Go get it!” they chorused.

“No, I can’t. I broke up with this guy almost five months ago already and I can’t  just  call him up out of the blue to get my TV back,”

“Uh, yes you can. That TV is yours and you can take it back,” Nick persisted.

Jess would not make eye contact with any of them.

Schmidt sighed  loudly . “But what I don’t understand is why you took everything else except your TV!”

Jess let her head fall back on her shoulders and she let out a loud groan. “Okay, so I never went back to get anything from him! I sent Cece to grab stuff for me when he was gone and I  just  …” Jess finally looked up at them. “He cheated on me with this ho! Actually, that’s not fair. She might be a  really  nice ho…I  just  don’t want to get in a big fight with Spencer. I want to be friends with him  eventually .”

“Is he Huxley’s father?” Nick asked.

Jess blinked, taken aback by the straight-forward question. “What? No. I met him when Huxley was two,”

“So then why do you still want to be friends with him?” Schmidt asked.

Jess shrugged, taking a seat on the edge of the couch.

“Jess, people aren’t friends with their ex-‘s.  I don’t want my ex to be my friend because all she did was rip me open and tear out my heart with her perfect, perfect hands,” Nick said, his face falling with every word .

“Look, Spencer has a power over me. It’s like he’s a wizard and I’m his mage, and  I think  it’s his hair. He has this, like,  really  beautiful hair and whenever I see it, I get the _whoo whoos_ ,” she ignored their cries of disgust. “And plus, he was the only guy that took interest in me after knowing about Huxley. Do you guys know how hard the dating pool is for single mom’s?”

“Look, Jess, I know,” Schmidt moved to the spot next to her on the couch. “Closure…ouch…am I right?”

“I don’t know at all what you’re saying right now.”

“Okay, Jess, think about it-“

“Schmidt, it’s not that complicated. Jess  just  get the TV back.” Nick exclaimed.

“It’s important. It’s a television. It’s what brings  all of  …  just  get us the TV!”

“Okay, it’s not a big deal,” Jess said. “I’ll do it. I’ll call Spencer and I will talk to him. And I will talk to him. So…yay,” Jess grabbed the dish and walked to the door with all the confidence she could muster. “And thank you for washing my dish. It’s  totally  grease free and it takes me half an hour sometimes to get rid of all the grease,”

* * *

 Nick held out his phone, focused completely on the game playing on the tiny screen. He could survive a few hours without a TV.  And tonight, he would be watching the game on a beautiful TV and this whole thing would dissolve into the past and then they can go back to normal neighbors who don’t interact with each other at all . 

But someone started knocking and Nick had to stuff his phone back into his pocket to answer the door. It was Jess. With no TV in sight. “So where's the TV?”

Jess gave him a tight smile. “I am on my way to talk to Spencer right now. But…I kind of don’t want to bring Huxley.  They never  really  got along and there was this whole thing with his backpack and after Huxley found out that Spencer cheated on me…it  just  wouldn’t be the best environment for him,”

And this was the third time Nick would have to watch Huxley. He pushed out Schmidt’s comment about her taking advantage. “All right, I’ll watch him,”

“Thank you so much, Nick! He doesn’t know I’m going to see Spencer, so  just  don’t mention anything about it. He’s supposed to be doing homework right now, but if he finishes before I get back, he gets half an hour of TV time and that’s it,”

“I can handle it.  Just  go get the TV,”

Jess gave him a thumbs up before heading to the elevator.

Nick shook his head as he went to Jess’ apartment.

Yes, there was a spiral and a few worksheets out on the dining table, but Huxley was not there. Instead, he was in the kitchen with a bowl of ketchup in front of him and a tomato and knife in his hands.

Nick furrowed his brow as Huxley stared at him with surprise.  “So…I’m pretty sure six year old’s aren’t supposed to be messing with knives,” Nick said as he walked up to Huxley and took the knife away.

“Don’t tell Mom?”

“What were you even trying to do? Your mom said you’re supposed to be doing homework right now,”

“I wanted to plant tomatoes in ketchup,”

Nick tried following the thought process that lead to that idea.

And  oddly  enough, he followed it and understood it completely. “Because you want to grow some extra tomato-y tomatoes,”

Huxley looked up with a wide smile. “Yes!”

Nick nodded. “All right. I’ll cut a slice or two and stick them in here, but you gotta finish your homework,”

“I’m done already. Mom  just  didn’t stop to check it because she’s acting weird. Do you know why she’s acting weird?”

Nick froze as he brought the knife halfway through the tomato. “Uh, what? What do you mean your mom’s acting weird?” Nick laughed, finishing the slice he was cutting. “You’re acting weird!"

Huxley frowned at Nick. “Now you’re acting weird,”

Nick swallowed hard. He would not say anything. He would not say anything. He would not- “Your mom is going to talk with Spencer,” Nick shut his eyes and slammed the counter. “Damnit, Miller! You couldn’t even keep it together in front of a six year old!”

Nick looked up at Huxley to see him staring at the bowl full of ketchup. “Stare at that thing hard enough and you’ll make it catch on fire,” Nick teased.

Huxley gave a small huff before turning away and plopping down on the sofa in the living room.

Nick scratched the back of his neck and muttered a quick encouraging thought to himself before joining Huxley on the couch  . “So…I heard you don’t  really  like Spencer,”

Huxley shook his head.

“Don’t blame you, kid. From what your mom told me, he sounds like a total bastard,” Nick winced. “Wait, no, don’t…don’t repeat that word. At least not in front of your mom,"

Huxley smiled a little, but didn’t say anything.

Nick was fine to  just  leave him be. Those tomato slices weren’t going to plant themselves… 

“He made Mom cry. And he threw away my backpack,” Huxley said before Nick could get up. “And he still has a lot of our stuff and Mom won’t go get it because she doesn’t want to cry anymore.  And she was crying a lot but not anymore but now she’s going to see him again and she’s going to start crying a lot again and I don’t like it and she always has this sad movie on about people not wanting to dance and I don’t like it,” Huxley said in one big breath.

Nick did not do this kind of things. What was he supposed to tell the kid? Hug him and tell him don't cry? “All right, here’s what we’re gonna do,” Nick stood up and rubbed his hands together. “This is something I like to call a junk punch. And you have my full permission to use it anytime a stupid guy makes your mom cry,”

* * *

Jess came back two hours later. Nick wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but he was not expecting to see a tear-stained face. He glanced at Huxley and could see the rage building in those young eyes. 

Nick quickly escorted her to his loft so she could explain to him and the guys what exactly happened. And just like Nick had taught Huxley how to junk punch, Nick taught Jess how to get angry.

She was finally riled up enough to get into her car and drive to Spencer’s. Of course, with backup from the guys and Huxley with them, reminding her why she was doing this in the first place.

After driving around the block four times and almost finishing Winston’s pre-game mix, Jess finally stopped in front of Spencer’s house.

The guys waited in the car with Huxley and watched as the door opened.

“That’s the wizard? He’s wearing a scrunchie,” Nick said.

“Looks like he juggles clubs on the beach,”

“He doesn’t. He stays at home all day and uses Mom’s TV,”

“Didn’t you just kind of assume he’s have a handlebar mustache?”

“Come on, Jess, just go in there and get that TV,”

“Ugh, Mom,” Huxley groaned as Spencer hugged Jess and Jess returned the affection.

The guys joined Huxley’s groaning. But they stopped as Jess moved away from the hug and stared at a dried plant. She picked it up and the guys cheered as she threw it, smashing the pot and destroying the plant.

Jess stormed in the house with a yell and Spencer running after her.

“She going to be okay in there?” Nick asked after hearing several things crashing and breaking.

Jess finally came out, her hands full of bags and hats and the coveted TV.

“We created a monster.”

“She kind of looks like Helena Bonham.”

Jess stopped to look at Spencer. She wobbled, trying to hold everything and continue arguing with Spencer.

“Don’t drop it. Jess, don’t…don’t, don’t drop it…don’t…” 

She continued trying to regain her balance, but the TV slipped out of her hands.

Everyone in the car quickly unloaded to help.

Nick grabbed Jess and pulled her away from Spencer as she tried clawing a shirt off of Spencer. “Sorry, don’t mind us, pal. We’re just here for the TV.”

Jess yelled and tried getting out of Nick’s grasp.

“Who are these guys?” Spencer asked as they started picking up the things Jess dropped.

“They’re my neighbors from down the hall,”

Spencer and Jess continued arguing while the guys loaded up Jess’ things into the trunk. Nick paused as he listened to Jess demand the shirt Spencer was wearing. “Give her the t-shirt, man.” 

“No, I don’t want to, you know. And I gave her this hat, too. So I’m gonna take it back.”

“This one? You want that?” Nick picked up the red hat and put it on. “Then I dare you. Come take it off my head, pal.”

Schmidt followed his lead and Huxley grabbed a hat too.

“Look man, give her the shirt back. I bet she worked hard on that jamboree.” Nick continued.

“They made a lot of jam, Spence,” Schmidt said, walking towards Spencer slowly. “You know how time consuming that can be? You need a jar funnel, a canner, some fresh fruit. Strawberries. Raspberries. Maybe a tayberry. Maybe a ripe-“

“No more fruit, man.”

“These people are your neighbors? Seriously Jess?” Spencer gestured towards them. “Have you even thought about what’s best for Huxley? You can stay here until you find a better place to live with safer neighbors.”

“You know what? I don’t like you, stretch,” Nick stared Spencer down. “I don’t like anything about you, and I’m not afraid to-“

Jess held up her hand. “I got this,” she took a deep breath. “I’ve got a place to live, Spence. It’s over. I spent four years trying to figure you out, but all you are is a guy with really beautiful hair. I’m happy you cheated on me. Thank you, because if you hadn’t, I would have married you. And then you would’ve hurt me all over again. But don’t you dare tell me to think about what’s best for Huxley. He never even liked you! Yeah, I live down the hall from three guys that I just barely met last week and have already left Huxley with them three different times. But I love these guys. I barely know them, but I love them,”

There were murmurs from the guys for her to stop with the ‘love’ language and it’s only been a week, but Jess still had more to say. “And I know they’re going to watch out for Huxley and me."

Winston had joined them during Jess’ speech. And when she finished, he picked up a hat for himself and put it on. “Give her the shirt back, man.”

“What happens if I say no?”

“You know what happens?” Schmidt stepped forward. “Schmidt happens!” he slapped Spencer right across his face.

“Ouch! What was on your hand?!”

“Thumb ring, bitch!”

Jess winced. “Language,” she said, glancing over at Huxley.

“You got some Schmidt on your face!”

Winston puled Schmidt back before he could attack Spencer again. With Jess’ things in hands, they handed back to the car, letting Jess have her final words alone with Spencer.

“You know what? Fine! Here, take it!” Spencer tossed it at Jess. “You know, I thought we were gonna handle this like adults, Jess.”

“Yeah, well I thought you were the love of my life, so…suck it Mr. Crabs.” Jess turned to walk away, but waited as Huxley stepped towards Spencer.

“Do you feel safe with these guys, Huxy?” Spencer asked, bending down to his level.

Huxley stared at Spencer for a few moments, before punching him right between his legs. “That’s what you get for giving away my backpack. And I hate that name,” Huxley left Spencer moaning on the lawn.

Nick gave Huxley a proud smile and held out his hand for a high-five.

Huxley jumped up to give him one, a wide smile on his face too.

Jess watched with a hopeful smile on her face. The last time Huxley interacted with Spencer, he didn’t talk for a week. It was right after he found out what Spencer had done to his backpack. Huxley was part of the reason why Jess never tried talking to Spencer again.

But seeing him walking next to Nick, actually laughing, Jess knew that he got his own closure too.

* * *

 

Jess sat on the couch, propping her feet up on the coffee table and taking her first sip of rosé from the brand new bottle. Today was a step in the right direction. She felt as if she could finally move on with her life. And Cece didn’t have to go to Spencer’s anymore while he was gone to grab more of her and Huxley’s stuff. 

She had everything back. And it was thanks to her neighbors. Jess smiled to herself. She was definitely worming her way into their hearts.

There was a knock on the door. Jess held back a groan. She just wanted to have the rest of the night to herself. Why was someone knocking on her door right now?

She summoned the energy she needed to get up from the couch and answer the door. “Oh,” It was Nick. “Did you forget something?”

Nick pursed his lips. “No, I just…wanted to drop this off. It’s for Huxley,”

Jess looked down. It was a red backpack. No design, no flashing lights. Just a simple red backpack. Exactly like the one Spencer had ruined.

“It’s probably not the same as his old backpack, but I just thought Huxley would still want a backpack for school,” Nick said as he handed it to her. “He explained to me what Spencer did to his last one,”

Jess couldn’t stop staring at the backpack. “Nick, it’s…” she looked up at him. “It’s perfect. It’s the same exact one that he had.”

Nick smiled. “Kid has good taste then.”

“He didn’t actually picked it out. I just grabbed it when I was shopping one day and told him it was like his real dad’s when he was a kid. He was nervous about going to school and I just…I told a ‘mom’ lie. But he loved it and…well, you can imagine how upset he was when Spencer tossed it,”

“Might not be as special to him then, but at least he won’t be walking around school like an idiot without one,” Nick winced. “Sorry, that’s not…he’s not an idiot,”

Jess laughed. “I know. I get what you mean,”

Nick took a step back. “Good night, Jess,”

“Night, Nick,” Jess shut the door, looking back down at the backpack. Huxley was going to be thrilled in the morning.

Her mind quickly jumped to the question she forgot to ask Nick. Why the hell was there a bowl of ketchup with tomato slices by the window?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should really be spacing these updates out, but I am on a roll and have at least four other chapters lined up...and things are going to get interesting in the next chapter...

As much as Nick wanted to keep his distance from the new neighbors, it seemed as if once the metaphorical door had opened, it was never going to shut again. The upside to the whole situation was the kid had some interesting ideas. Following the logic of his tomato garden, they decided to try it with grapes and grape juice and peanuts with peanut butter.

Their only mistake was leaving it in Nick's loft, where Schmidt threw it out as soon as he discovered it. They had to redo the whole thing and leave it in Jess' apartment. And so far, she hadn't touched their odd little garden on the living room window sill.

But now the relationship was changing even more, reaching the point of no return. They were all going to a wedding together. With Jess as Nick's date no less. She had a mission for this wedding. To keep Nick away from Caroline and prevent him from falling into old habits. Nick protested and demanded a different solution, like not even going to the wedding. Jess couldn't even find a babysitter for Huxley. Were they actually going to force Huxley to sit through a wedding of people he didn't even know? It was only by chance that Nick's concern for Huxley's boredom lined up with his own desires of not attending the wedding.

Schmidt was an expert at getting Nick to do things he didn't want to do though. He reassured Nick that everything would be fine and he would finally have closure with Caroline. It had been over a year already and he needed to move on. Tonight would be the first step in that direction.

Nick still had his protests, even as they were walking out the door. But when they stopped by Jess' apartment and he saw how well she cleaned up, the protests died in his throat. He could do this. He could go to this wedding with Jess and Huxley. Besides, how often did Jess get to dress up anymore? Ladies loved dressing up and Nick wouldn't take this opportunity from Jess.

Of course, when her prop teeth came out, the protests resurfaced.

Nick shook his head as he stared at the building in front of him filled with other wedding guests. "No. No, no, no, no, no. This is a  _horrible_  idea!"

"Nick, please, you need to get your act together, man," Winston straightened his bow tie. "Now if you'll excuse me. I'm going to usher the shit out of this wedding,"

Jess rolled her eyes and pointed a finger in Huxley's face. "Is that word already on your No-no list?"

"Jess, that list should be the least of your concerns right now. Remember, what is your top priority today?" Schmidt asked.

"Keep Nick away from Caroline," Jess said with a mock salute to Schmidt.

"Yeah, but you know guys, what if we forgot about this whole thing? Go home, open a cold beer, watch the game?" Nick said, still not wanting to enter the building, thus holding back the rest.

"I wanna go back home too," Huxley whined as he tugged on Jess' hand.

"What is with you two? Wedding's are fun events where you can dance and drink and celebrate love and be thankful you aren't the poor sucker getting tied down!" Jess exclaimed looking at both Huxley and Nick.

The two of them frowned back at her. Jess rolled her eyes and began dragging Nick along, "Let's just find a seat already,"

Nick walked around with Jess' arm looped through his and Huxley trailing after them with a not very well hidden scowl. Nick did his best to avoid mingling with people while Jess tried to derail Schmidt from saying the word 'sex' while he was actually talking about 'sex.' Huxley's list of No-no's was growing at an alarming rate after meeting these guys and she wanted to at least prevent an extra full page tonight.

Jess didn't have to worry about that too much since Nick lead her away as some woman named Gretchen approached Schmidt. They found a seat, Huxley on one side of her and Nick on the other.

Of course, it just so happened to be the same row Caroline was sitting in.

"There she is, there she is," Nick panicked as he made eye contact with her. "She's right over here. She's right…"

Nick stood up, but Jess pulled him down, stopping any attempts from him going towards her. Huxley watched with interest, especially as Nick grew more nervous as Caroline walked towards them.

"Hi," Caroline greeted with a smile.

"Hey, Caroline. Wow. I didn't know you were going to be here. Great to see you."

Huxley frowned as Jess wrapped her arms around Nick. He didn't realize it was only because Jess was trying to hold Nick down.

"Nicholas, you have to introduce me!" Jess pulled Nick's arm to wrap around her shoulder.

"Oh yeah, of course. Uh, Jess, this is Caroline."

"Hi."

"One more time. Caralee?"

"Uh, Caroline."

"Caraloo?"

Huxley had enough with the weird adult behavior. "She said Caroline, Mom," Huxley grumbled.

"Oh, right, fancy." Jess placed her hand on Huxley's knee and gave it a gentle squeeze, only to remind him that she had not forgotten about him.

Nick had though and was quick to introduce him as well. "Oh, and this is Huxley,"

Caroline stared at Huxley with minor confusion then back to Nick.

"Well, I'm Nicholas' girlfriend." Jess threw in. She squeezed Huxley's knee again in an attempt to keep him from saying something. "We just started dating, so we're still in that honeymoon phase. I barely sleep. So much doing…not-sleeping stuff." She glanced down at Huxley.

Nick laughed nervously as Jess placed her head on his shoulder and caressed his jaw. "So much, yeah, it's crazy."

"He's so soft, like a towel. And Huxley just adores him, don't you?"

As soon as it was out of her mouth, Jess regretted it instantly. Huxley hadn't expressed whether he actually liked him. But once he was finally asked, he would give his honest opinion.

Huxley shrugged his shoulders. "He's teaching me basketball because Mommy can't play and she broke the TV last time."

Jess smiled, hiding her excitement that Huxley finally decided to like another person.

"Wow, well I…I never pictured you as the family man, Nick," Caroline stuttered. "But you look…fatherhood looks good on you,"

Nick leaned over and ruffled Huxley's hair, earning a scowl from him and Nick just gave him a teasing smile. "How can you say no to a kid like Huxley?"

"Well, it was nice to meet you,"

"So nice to meet you too, Carol,"

Huxley groaned. "Caroline, Mom,"

Jess laughed it off. "I give up!"

Caroline smiled at Huxley. "And nice to meet you too, handsome boy,"

Huxley just frowned and crossed his arms. Caroline blinked, staring at Huxley as if he reminded her of someone. She shook her head though. "I guess I'll see you later then,"

"For sure," Nick said and repeated it as she walked away. Nick then turned to Jess. "Oh my God, was she jealous? I think she was jealous. You did so good,"

"Yeah, but we have bigger things to be happy about! Huxley likes you!" Jess exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around Huxley.

Nick scoffed. "Of course he likes me, right Hux?"

Huxley squirmed away from Jess. "You don't talk a lot like Schmidt."

Nick laughed. "My man," He held out his fist and Huxley gladly gave him a fist bump.

* * *

The wedding was boring and Huxley was ready to go home. He couldn't understand why everyone was acting so weird. Winston was fighting with another kid, Schmidt was trying to hide from some lady so he could talk to another lady and Mom kept insisting Nick was her boyfriend.

They were waiting in the banquet hall for dinner. Huxley was starving, but maybe once the food came out, then they could leave? Caroline, the lady from before came to their table. "Was that ceremony long or what?"

"It really was…" Nick started agreeing.

Jess laughed. "We loved it. Taking notes in case Mr. Commitment-phobe over here decides to make an honest woman out of me."

"Hey Jess," Nick said, straightening and pulling away from Jess. "Didn't you want to go do that thing from…?'

"Yes, I did. I want to do it very badly. Yup," Jess stood up, pulling Huxley with her right as the light dimmed and the emcee started talking.

"I don't want to go," Huxley argued.

"Oh, don't worry. He can stay here," Caroline said. "I'd like to see Dad Nick in action,"

Nick looked at Jess with pleading in his eyes. He subtly shook his head no. Jess pursed her lips. "Uh…all right. I will be back."

Nick's eyes widened as Jess walked away and left Huxley behind.

Of course, the exit she decided on was the same one the newly weds were coming in from.

The lights dimmed and the spotlight was on Jess and the bride and groom.

Huxley let his face fall into his hands out of embarrassment as Jess walked backwards, making proclamations of good fortune for the couple.

"Yeah, you and me both, bud." Nick said, placing a hand of solidarity on Huxley's shoulder.

"Jess is…great."

Nick pulled his hand away from Huxley as the lights came back on. "The best. Yeah, so happy."

"So Huxley, how do you like your mommy and Nick dating?"

Nick clenched his jaw and looked at Huxley, hoping to communicate something through his eyes. "He's a lot better than Spencer. I got to junk punch him because he made Mom cry. Nick taught me how to do that too, but he said not to tell Mom,"

Caroline laughed softly. "Does your Mommy ask you to call Nick anything else?"

Huxley frowned. "Like what?"

Nick shifted uncomfortably. He knew exactly where this conversation was going. "You know Caroline, me and Jess are pretty serious," he said before the conversation could turn into something horrible. "I was thinking of asking her to move in with me,"

"But I don't want to move in with you 'cause then Schmidt will make me throw away our garden," Huxley interjected.

"Trust me, I won't let Schmidt get rid of it. You can bring whatever mess you want and Schmidt will just have to deal with it," Nick reassured.

Caroline looked back and for the between Nick and Huxley. She shook her head. "It's incredible how much he looks like you," She said softly, not wanting Huxley to be part of this conversation.

"What?" Nick frowned as he looked at Huxley. "No, he's all his mother. It'd be impossible to look like me!"

"I know, I know, it's just…he looks nothing like Jess. He really looks like you," Caroline shook her head again. "Did you ever think about what our kids would look like?"

Nick blinked. "Wait, did you want kids?"

Caroline scoffed. "Practically every woman wants kids. I just never brought it up because I didn't think you were good with them," she glanced at Huxley who was now playing with the spoons. "I was wrong though,"

* * *

Jess' legs tingled as she walked, but the blood was finally flowing again after she cut off those horrible shorts. She went into the banquet hall and saw Huxley sitting all by himself.

Jess groaned and held her mother rage in check as she went up to the table. "Why did they leave you all by yourself?"

Huxley shrugged, pushing at the half eaten plate in front of him. Wedding food was disgusting and they still hadn't left yet.

"Did you see where Nick went?"

"He into that big box thing with Caroline,"

Oh, this was bad. Jess took Huxley's hand and led him out to the photo booth. Once there, Jess threw open the curtains. "Aha! I trusted you!"

Nick and Caroline both jumped. "Jess, get out of here," Nick said, taking a deep breath.

"Nothing happened!" Caroline climbed off Nick's lap. She looked at Huxley who was watching with confusion now.

"After everything we built!" Jess accused

"Go away Jess, please,"

"Who are you?"

"No, really, nothing happened. I have a boyfriend," Caroline said, hoping to calm the situation.

"Wait, you have a boyfriend?"

"Yeah, well, I've been seeing someone. It's been over a year, Nick. I didn't bring him because I didn't want to hurt your feelings, but now that I know that you have Jess and Huxley-"

"Yeah, he has us," Jess said as she pulled Huxley into a hug.

Caroline quickly mumbled something and walked away. Schmidt approached as soon as she did and began asking about someone named Brooke. Huxley bounced from one foot to the other, not caring what the adults were arguing about. He just really wanted to go back home.

* * *

Huxley popped each bubble that Jess blew. They made it a little game. Every bubble that he popped was an extra day she had to take him to get ice cream. Which probably wasn't the best idea since he was up to day twenty-five now.

Winston approached them, giving Jess the excuse to put the bubbles down. But Winston grabbed them and started blowing them. Huxley grinned and popped the ones Winston blew as he and Jess talked. Day twenty-six and twenty-seven were soon added.

This was fun. Not sitting around a table while Caroline asked him all kinds of weird questions. But then Schmidt came over and he called them back to the photo booth because Nick was stuck.

"They want me to leave the booth, but I'm staying," Nick said, his words slurring together. "This is my home now. It's got everything that I need. Jess, the fact is I was a mean person and I'm sorry. Okay?"

Jess went in the photo booth and Huxley waited outside with Schmidt and Winston. She walked out after only a few moments and headed back to the banquet hall. Huxley stayed with Winston and Schmidt though. He had a very serious question for Nick.

And sure enough, Nick came out too, just a few seconds after Jess. Winston and Schmidt both clapped Nick's shoulders and spoke a few encouraging words. "So do we still have to move in with you since you have a new home?" Huxley asked once Nick looked at him.

Nick laughed. "Nah, I don't think we'd all fit in there anyways," He held out his hand and Huxley grabbed it without hesitation.

Winston and Schmidt walked back into the banquet hall and Nick followed with Huxley, but at a much slower pace. Right at the entrance, Nick paused. "So, who do you think I should talk to first? Your mom or Caroline?"

Huxley shrugged. "Grown-ups talk too much. It's so boring. Why can't you just dance?"

Nick smiled. "You got a point, kid,"

They walked in and headed straight to the table where Jess, Schmidt and Winston were. "Come on, Jess,"

"What?" Jess snapped.

"Just please, just come with me right now."

Jess looked at him and his hand still entwined in Huxley's. She let out a deep breath and stood up, following the two of them to the dancefloor.

They stood in a circle and Nick was the first one to start dancing. The chicken dance. Jess immediately joined in while Huxley laughed at the two of them. Schmidt and Winston joined them, dancing a ridiculous version of the chicken dance. Huxley kept laughing. Maybe it was worth all the boring parts for the wedding to end like this.

* * *

By the time they drove back to their building, Huxley and Winston were both passed out. Nick poked Winston until he woke up, but left Huxley asleep. Jess groaned as she opened the door to pull Huxley out. "You're getting too heavy for this, bud,"

"Here, I can carry him,"

Jess shooed Nick away. "It's fine. I've been doing it for six years,"

"Jess, you're exhausted, you're in heels, and he's heavier than a toddler now. Let me take him,"

"All right. He's all yours," Jess stepped back, too exhausted to argue.

Nick easily gathered him up in his arms and headed into the building.

While waiting for the elevator, Jess slipped off her heels. Oh, that felt so much better. She hated wearing heels. "Thanks, Nick,"

"You helped me out tonight, Jess. Just repaying the favor,"

The four of them rode up in the elevator, Winston mumbling again how stupid Schmidt was to get back with Gretchen.

Winston mumbled a good night once they were on their floor to collapse in his own bed.

Jess opened the door to her apartment and Nick walked in after her, still holding Huxley in his arms.

"Do you mind laying him down? I honestly have to pee really bad," Jess said softly, not wanting Huxley to wake up.

"It's no problem," Nick said, already making his way down the hall to Huxley's room. He didn't turn on any lights, opting to use the nightlight as his source of light.

Huxley didn't stir until Nick started taking off his shoes. He rubbed his eyes and looked at Nick, "We're home?"

"Yeah, you sure did party hard there,"

Huxley was too tired to acknowledge Nick's joke. He pulled up his feet and crawled under the covers. "Are you and Mom still dating?"

Nick winced, realizing they never explained the situation to Huxley. "Nope, we were just pretending because Caroline was…" he trailed off when he realized Huxley had closed his eyes and fallen asleep again.

Nick smiled a little, wishing for a moment he could be a kid again, before getting up to leave the room.

"Nick?"

Nick stopped at the doorway, "Go to sleep, kid,"

"When it's not pretend anymore, can you ask me first?"

The kid was six years old and half asleep. Nick didn't over think his statement. "You'll be the first one I ask,"

"And promise you won't hurt her like Spencer?"

"Promise,"

Huxley smiled. "Night, Nick,"

"Good night, Huxley,"


	4. Chapter 4

Jess held up her promise of taking Huxley to get ice cream after he popped a total of thirty bubbles. Never before had Jessica Day allowed Huxley to ingest so much sugar. But a promise was a promise and next time she was going to think through things like this.

Several of those outings somehow included the 4D guys. Individually, a combination, or all three at once. If Cece came along, Schmidt was somehow invited, whether by himself or Huxley, and he proved himself a persistent flirt. Cece was always annoyed, but more recently, Jess noticed a hidden smile accompanied with her annoyed glares.

When Winston joined, he would tell Huxley all kinds of stories from either Latvia or his childhood in Chicago with Nick. Jess only believed half of the stories, but Huxley hung on to every word with wide-eyed wonder.

Huxley liked it best when Nick joined them though. He always let Huxley lead the conversations. Huxley shared his ideas and ponderings, ones that not even Jess had ever heard before. And Nick would either agree or argue as if speaking to a peer.

But ice cream days were finally over and Jess needed other activities to keep Huxley occupied. It was easy when she lived at that house with Spencer. He could just go outside to do his favorite activity; yell at other children who were too loud in his opinion. Apartment life was much different and Huxley's energy was brimming over.

So when Winston mentioned they were going out to play football that weekend, Jess jumped on the opportunity.

Schmidt held the football and stared straight ahead, his face devoid of emotion. "Nick go out ten yards, cut let. Winston, go long, post right. Huxley, run as fast as you can towards the ball once I throw it. Jess, go down, out towards the parking lot. Get in the car. We'll meet you back at the loft,"

The guys took the commands seriously, Huxley giggling at the last one. He followed after them, while Jess lingered. "Oh, very funny. You're a comedian, Schmidt," Jess grumbled, still joining their ranks.

Huxley bounced on his toes as they lined up. He stood off on the side, waiting for Schmidt to throw the ball. When Nick found out Huxley was joining them, he took it upon himself to make sure he knew how to catch a ball. Huxley couldn't wait to impress them with his new skill.

Schmidt threw it and Huxley pumped his little legs. Nick jumped up to catch the ball, but it flew right over his head. Huxley grinned, still running for the ball while Nick started to complain about Schmidt's throw.

Nick's complaints stopped without warning and Huxley turned around to see what happened.

Jess and Nick managed to end up tangled on the ground with Nick loudly groaning.

Schmidt and Winston ran to them as Jess climbed off of him. Huxley changed direction and ran towards them, leaving the ball forgotten.

"Are you okay?" Jess asked.

"Yes, I'm oka-" Nick started groaning as he attempted to stand up. "Oh, my God!"

Huxley looked up at Jess as she started to panic a little. "Nick, I'm so sorry,"

"Probably your lateral sizer," Schmidt said, crossing his arms and giving Nick a slight disappointed look.

"Shut up!"

"Rotator cuff?"

Nick kept yelling, unable to move at all. Jess bent down to try and help him up, but Nick refused her help. "Please, go far from here. I can taste my spine," Nick said through gritted teeth.

Huxley looked up at Winston. "Is Nick okay?"

Winston waved his hand, "Yeah, don't worry about him. Nick's just an old man,"

"Three or four down there, vertebrae,"

"Why is no one helping me?!"

Huxley moved forward and offered his hand. "I can help you, Nick,"

Jess covered her heart with her hands. "Aw, Hux Bug, that's so nice of you to offer,"

"Oh yeah, real nice. Right up to the moment where he drops me because he can't pick me up,"

Jess rolled her. "Well, you're refusing my help!"

Winston nodded at Schmidt, who then rolled his eyes in response. But he still moved forward when Winston did and they both reached down to pull Nick up.

Nick yelled the entire time and only stopped once he was on his own two feet. Then, he started groaning, shuffling back to his car.

Jess followed right behind him, her hands out and ready to catch him if he fell. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked once they made it to the parking lot. "You're walking like a Disney witch. Let me drive you to your doctor."

"I don't have a doctor. I don't have insurance,"

"Nick, you need to see a doctor," Schmidt threw in. "If only to make sure that your junk is clean."

"But it's just junk. Why do they have to check it?" Huxley asked Winston.

Winston scrunched his nose. "I think your mom should explain that one to you,"

"I don't go to doctors," Nick mumbled.

"I'll take you to my friend Sadie," Jess offered. "She'll just look at you, she won't charge you,"

"Okay, I don't go to doctors!" Nick yelled, climbing into his car.

"Are you sure you're okay driving?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I've never been better,"

Huxley watched with a frown as Nick drove off, still yelling out arguments that he was fine and could drive himself. But then he crashed right into Winston's car.

Winston began yelling. "What did you do?!"

Jess grabbed Huxley's hand as they ran towards Nick.

"You just hit my car!" Winston yelled, looking to see the new damage on his car.

Huxley laughed. "But your car already has a bunch of bumps, so it's okay,"

Winston glared at Huxley, but Jess brought their attention make to important matters.

"I'm taking you to see my friend. Get in my car,"

Nick began protesting, but Jess pulled out her 'mom' voice. "Now, Nick,"

Nick glanced at Huxley. "Your mom can be scary sometimes,"

* * *

They stopped by a diner on the way back to the loft for a quick meal and Jess would grab some fries to-go for Huxley. They ate in silence, Jess trying not to think about the growth and Nick silently trying to send Jess a message to not think about the growth.

"I'm not going to go tomorrow," Nick finally said. "I'm really not, because I don't want to get an ultrasound. I just don't have time. No, I've got some writing to do. I was going to teach Huxley how to file his taxes. The truth is, with working out, I've got some people to see, so I just can't make it," Nick continued listing all different kinds of excuses, while Jess waited patiently for him to finish talking.

Once he did, she pulled out her firm mom voice again. "You're going. And I know you're scared, but you know what my mom used to do when I got scared? A Daffy Duck impression,"

"Please don't do what you're about to do…"

"Hey, Nicholas," Jess said, ignoring his request and putting on her best Daffy Duck impression. "I'm sorry you have a lump in your throat. That's despicable!"

Nick grimaced, trying to figure out what the proper reaction should be.

"Sorry," Jess mumbled. "Too much?"

Nick took a deep breath. "Okay, I've got to go to work,"

"I'll come with you,"

"And leave Huxley with Schmidt and Winston for longer than three hours? I don't think so."

"I'll bring him with me, then,"

Nick actually laughed. "You are not bringing a kid to the bar," his smile faded. "Tell Huxley I'm fine. Don't…don't mention anything about…whatever this is,"

Jess dropped Nick off at the bar and headed back to the loft. While waiting for the elevator, she did quick research on her phone. The elevator dinged as Jess found a cause. Cancer. She read the article. Once. Twice. When she looked up again, she was on their floor and standing right at the door for 4D.

She walked in, hoping her face didn't reveal too much information. Huxley was watching How It's Made while Winston and Schmidt argued at the kitchen bar over Winston's car. "Hey, Hux Bug, we'll go back to our apartment in a minute, I just have to explain some stuff to Winston and Schmidt really quick,"

"Is Nick okay?" Huxley asked.

Jess gave a strained smile and nodded.

The answer was good enough for Huxley and he turned around to continue his show.

As soon as Jess reached the kitchen bar, Schmidt leaned over. "What is it? What did the doctor say? You just gave the classic 'lying parent' response,"

Jess let out a deep breath. "She found a growth in his neck. He's got another appointment tomorrow to see what it is exactly,"

"A growth? Well what else did she say? Is it serious?" Winston said before Schmidt could begin his ramble of questions.

"I mean…she wasn't sure of anything, but wanted him to check it out, just to be sure, but…I've never seen Sadie that serious…" Jess clutched her phone, the screen still open to the article she pulled up. She set the phone done on the bar for Schmidt and Winston to see. "And then I found this,"

"Where is he?" Schmidt asked as soon as he read through it.

"He went to work,"

Schmidt growled. "That bastard. Come on, Winston. We're leaving. Jess lock up,"

Huxley hadn't paid any attention at all to the conversation until Winston and Schmidt both got up and left. He looked at Jess again, this time with a frown. "Where did they go?"

Jess forced a smile again, ignoring the growing worry at the back of her mind. "Don't worry about it, Hux Bug. Come on, let's go home,"

* * *

Nick wanted to kill Jess when Schmidt and Winston showed up at the bar with their sympathetic looks. Of course she told them. Now he had to deal with them distracting him from his work. His drinks were off and he could tell from the lack of tips he was getting.

Then Winston showed him what Jess had found. He had to sit down as he read through the whole thing, his heart sinking with every word. "Is that…would that be where…in my neck?"

Their sympathetic looks were the only answer he needed.

The rest of his shift was a blur. The tips continued dwindling until it was nothing and Nick wondered how was he supposed to pay for this? But even more, he wondered what had he done with his life? All this time and there was nothing he could say that was worthwhile. And that thought scared him even more than the lump itself.

Five minutes before his shift was over, his phone rang. He stared at the phone, trying to remember if hallucination was one of the symptoms. It rang and rang, the name not changing until it finally disappeared for his voicemail to take care of.

His screen changed, showing his missed call from 'Bug Eyes.' The same Bug Eyes he thought was a dream. Bug Eyes from the combination of alcohol and weed that one night, which he swore he'd never combine those two again. At least not those particular brands.

Wait, had he actually died already and this was some kind of weird hell where this woman he thought was a dream called him?

"Hey Nick," Winston came up to the bar and snapped him out of his thoughts. "Jess just called. She wants us to stop by once you're done,"

Nick nodded numbly, putting away the last few glasses so he could close the bar. He didn't need to think about Bug Eyes right now or if she was even real. He had bigger things to worry about.

* * *

Jess had sent Huxley to bed hours ago. He didn't wake up when Cece stopped by and Jess spilled everything, including a few worried tears. Cece was the voice of reason, as always, reminding Jess that this was just an ultrasound and it could be nothing. But Jess thought too much and couldn't get these horrible thoughts out of her head.

She thought Huxley would wake up when the guys stopped by. Especially when it was clear both Schmidt and Winston had enough drinks to forget how loud they were actually being. But Huxley didn't wake up. Or at least, he didn't come out of his room.

Winston had sprawled out on one of the couches, humming to himself. Cece and Schmidt were sitting on the other couch, Schmidt not missing the opportunity to flirt with Cece, despite the situation. Nick and Jess sat together at the dining table. She told him jokes and he laughed. Never because they were actually funny, but because of how horrible they were. And Jess could feel her worry dwindling by the minute the more he smiled.

But Nick Miller just had to ruin everything.

"You don't get to speak at my funeral," Nick said while laughing at one of her jokes.

The comment sobered Jess completely. "What?"

"For sure. One hundred percent," Nick said, still laughing a little and not comprehending the look on Jess' face.

"What? Why?"

"I don't want you talking at my funeral!" Nick yelled. "You can go to my funeral, but you can't talk. My funeral is my time to shine. I want the girls to think, 'I wish I brought Nick Miller to orgasm.' And I want the guys to think, 'I wish I bought him more stuff.' And I don't want Daffy Duck voices and feelings sticks. You don't know how to be real,"

"I know how to be real," Jess mumbled, looking down.

Nick pointed to the top of his head and started asking something, but Jess didn't hear it. Instead, she heard the soft sob of Huxley.

"Nick's going to die?"

Jess' heart dropped. How had she not heard him come out of his room? How long had he actually been standing there. She got up and picked him up while he cried, whispering in his ear that everything was fine. Nick began stammering, trying to explain what was going on, but he was too drunk to get a serious sentence out.

She carried Huxley back into his room, not giving Nick the chance to explain.

* * *

Jess stayed in the room with Huxley until he stopped crying. Which wasn't very long once Jess explained what was going on.

"So Nick isn't going to die?"

Jess pursed her lips. How to answer that…? "Like I said, the doctor needs to run a quick test,"

"And if he passes, then he's going to be fine,"

Jess nodded.

"Is he studying for it?"

"This isn't the kind of test you can study for,"

Huxley frowned. It didn't make sense to him. "But Nick isn't going to die,"

"No," Jess finally said.

"So he's okay?"

Jess always encouraged Huxley to ask questions to promote his learning. But right now, she wished he would just stop. "Yeah, he's okay, I guess,"

Singing wafted through the air. Jess had thought they would've left her apartment, but that was definitely Winston's voice singing about a sad song. Nick's voice mingled in for a moment, but faded out and it was just Winston again.

"Can I go out?" Huxley asked.

Jess sighed. After the way he woke up, there was no way Huxley was going to sleep anytime soon. "Let's go then," Jess said, getting up from his bed.

Huxley followed after her. Cece was the first to notice them. Schmidt had vacated the spot next to her to sit with Winston and Nick on the other couch. She opened her arms for Huxley to sit with her before Schmidt could come back.

The guys didn't notice as Huxley settled beside Cece and Jess opted for the dining table, a safe distance away from Nick. They continued their slurred singing and Cece leaned down to whisper to Huxley, "This is what happens when you drink too much. Remember that, Huxley,"

Winston continued humming as Nick asked for some weird rapping. Schmidt immediately obliged, his verses making absolutely no sense. Cece laughed, but Jess couldn't stop her eyes from rolling. Then somehow, everyone was rapping different verses. Even Cece.

"Nick Miller, Nick Miller," Jess started, unable to keep quiet anymore. "Never does anything,"

They all turned to her, Winston imitating bass keys on a piano.

"What?" Jess said, holding out her hands, waiting for them explain what she did wrong. "You want me to get real and stop being all cutesy and whatever, fine. Let's get real. You don't do anything, What did you want to do? I mean, isn't there something you wanted to accomplish?"

"Spencer didn't do anything, Mom. Nick does lots of stuff," Huxley pointed out softly.

Nick glanced at Huxley, grateful for the six year old's backing. "He's right. I wrote half a book about zombies. Planted a garden with the Hux man," Nick scrunched up his face and shook his head. "Oh, no, ew, not using that name ever again,"

Jess walked up towards him, sitting on the coffee table to stare right at him. "Okay, just tell me. If you could do anything, what would you do?"

Schmidt had gotten up and moved to reclaim his seat next to Cece. With a huff, Huxley climbed onto her lap, letting Schmidt sit down. "She isn't going to get anywhere with him," Schmidt mumbled.

Cece shrugged her shoulders, brushing back Huxley's bed hair. "You'd be surprised at what Jess can get out of people,"

* * *

Schmidt still felt surprised when they all made it to the beach. Jessica Day had convinced Nicholas Miller to run into the ocean, without knowing what would happen. And he would be damned if he didn't see this event.

"Can I get in too?" Huxley asked, tugging on Jess' hand.

"Nope. It's too cold for you and you will get sick,"

"Oh, but it's not too cold for me?" Nick pointed out. "You know, in terms of running into the water, it's a tad on the cold side for me too.

Jess didn't say anything. She just waited for him.

"Well, you know what?" Nick muttered, looking down as he started toeing off his shoes. "Just…it's just…" Then he let out a yell and ran for the ocean.

Jess covered Huxley's eyes, even though he pushed against her hand. He didn't know Nick was going in nude and he did not need to find that out.

Everyone went up to the shore, Jess collecting Nick's clothes and hanging back just a bit so Huxley still wouldn't see Nick completely when he came out of the water.

Which he did almost immediately after jumping in. "Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" Nick yelled. "This is stupid! No, it's cold! My testicles are in my abdomen!"

He kept yelling as he pulled on his boxers and ran towards them. "Words cannot describe how cold that is!"

Jess handed him his clothes which he quickly threw on, not caring that he was soaking wet. And Jess couldn't help herself. She had to ask. "Nick, are you okay?"

"No, I'm not okay, Jess!" Nick exclaimed. "I'm not okay! All right, I woke up today and I wanted to paly a friendly game of touch football, then I hurt my back, and I went to your gynecologist, and now I might have cancer! So, no, Jess! I'm not okay!"

Nick happened to glance down and he saw Huxley hiding behind Jess' leg. He looked terrified and Nick knew it was because of him. Nick let out deep breath and kicked at some sand, "Shit," he grumbled, choosing to walk away instead.

Jess didn't move. Nick needed space and she was giving it to him.

"I thought you said Nick was okay,"

Jess closed her eyes. This was a mistake. She shouldn't have pressured Nick to do something and she definitely shouldn't have brought Huxley out to the beach at this ungodly hour. She took a deep breath and knelt down to be at eye level with him. "You know, sometimes when adults get scared, they start yelling a bunch of things. And Nick's pretty scared right now,"

"Can I go help him not be scared?"

Jess smiled and cupped his cheek. Oh, she loved this kid so much. "I think that's a great idea,"

Huxley moved away from Jess and walked up to Nick. Huxley didn't say anything as he sat down right next to him. Nick looked over at him and Jess could see him say something. Huxley gave a short response which made Nick smile.

Jess didn't move until she was sure Huxley didn't have more to say. And there was no better indicator than Huxley laying down, placing his head in Nick's lap, and falling asleep almost instantly.

"Hey," she said softly, calling Nick's attention as she sat down on the other side of him.

"Hey," Nick responded. He looked down, considering his words for a moment before speaking again. "I know that you're right. You're right, I have to start doing things. I can't just…you know?"

That was a breakthrough for Nick. Jess knew it and didn't want to say anything that could possibly ruin the moment.

Nick looked at her, his drunken eyes managing to hold her gaze. "Jess…I like you a lot. And Huxley too. I really do. He's an amazing kid. I'm glad you're both around," He looked down at Huxley, placing his hand on his arm and rubbing it up and down gently. After a moment, he looked back up at Jess, "I'm not gonna remember any of this in the morning, am I?"

Jess smiled a little, "Most certainly not," she said in her Daffy Duck voice.

She never managed to master doing that voice quietly. It was enough to wake Huxley up. "Mom," he groaned out of embarrassment.

Nick laughed. "Oh no, you embarrassed the kid awake,"

Jess laughed, flicking Huxley's nose. He swatted his hand away, adjusting himself to find that perfect spot on Nick's lap again. "We should go home,"

"Yes. Let's go home," Nick agreed.

* * *

It was a nice sentiment. Going home. But they never did quite make it. In fact, they didn't even try, except for maybe Winston who fell asleep in his car.

They sat in the waiting room, waiting for Nick to come out. Would the results be instant? Would he have to go back in for more? Jess kept her mind occupied by picking out the sand from Huxley's hair and clothes.

Everyone stayed quiet, exhausted and/or hungover. But Schmidt still had to say something. "Well, how long does it take to find out if someone has cancer or not?" he exclaimed.

As soon as he spoke, Nick came out of the room. They stood up to look at him, trying to guess the results from his face.

"I'm okay. I'm fine," Nick said with a relieved smile.

Huxley jumped into Nick's arms. He only fumbled for a moment before finally managing a firm grip on Huxley as he hugged Nick's neck. "I knew you were going to be okay,"

"What was it? What did they say it was?" Jess asked.

Nick rubbed Huxley's back, "I don't know. I didn't hear anything after they said, 'You don't have cancer.' I blanked out. I think it's like a cyst or something,"

Schmidt moved, his hands up to grab Nick's face and give him a kiss. With Huxley in his arms, Nick couldn't do anything, but did glare at Schmidt once he stepped away.

Jess went up to Nick as well and smiled at him. "I knew you'd beat this thing, Nick,"

Nick laughed. "Well, it really wasn't something to beat, you know,"

Cece watched them, seeing how easy their interactions were and how natural Nick looked holding Huxley. She glanced over at Winston to see him staring with a dropped jaw and wide eyes. "So you see it too?" she asked softly as the others talked.

Winston shook his head. "Are you referring to…?"

"Yup. It's crazy, but he looks just like Nick,"

Winston squinted his eyes. "Yeah, but that's…we just met her…that'd be impossible…wouldn't it?"

Cece shrugged. "Does he have a cousin or something named Julius Pepperwood?"

Winston scoffed. "That's a name I would definitely remember and none of his relatives have that name,"

Nick finally set Huxley down as he walked up to the counter to pay his bill. Cece and Winston didn't stop watching him or Huxley. "Agree to keep this between us?"

"Way ahead of you, girl,"


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brace yourself folks, this is a long one, but I really didn't want to split it up into two parts. Anyways, hope you enjoy!

Nick stared at the list of missed calls on his phone. Some were debt collectors, a couple were from his mom, but there was one in particular that he was staring at. Bug Eyes. A week had passed since the cancer scare and the first time she called. Now, her name littered his missed call list.

She wasn't a hallucination and neither were all these missed phone calls from her.

"What could be so interesting on that dinosaur that you refuse to listen to me!"

Nick snapped his head up. Schmidt was standing on the other side of the table, staring at him. "I'm sorry, what?"

Schmidt threw his hands in the air. "Unbelievable! I could've been pouring out all the emotions I've kept locked up in my heart, but you would've heard none of them because you were too interested with your phone!"

Nick rolled his eyes. "Schmidt, you don't have any locked up emotions because you're always spewing them,"

"That's not the point, Nicholas!"

"Well, what did you want?!"

Schmidt began again, but Nick didn't hear him. His phone started ringing and it was Bug Eyes. Calling the second time today. Within the last ten minutes actually.

Schmidt placed his hands on his hips. "Just answer the phone or turn it off!"

"I-I…it's just…she's not real! Ghosts don't call people!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

The call went to voicemail. Nick took a deep breath pressed his lips together. "You were saying something?"

Schmidt rolled his eyes, filing this entire interaction in the folder labeled 'Things I will never nor do I  _want_  to understand.' He closed his eyes, took a deep breath to gather his thoughts again and-

The phone rang again.

"Damnit, Nicholas, answer the phone!" He reached over and snatched it from his hands. "'Bug Eyes?' Who the hell is Bug Eyes?"

"Give that to me!" Nick climbed over the table to take his phone back.

Schmidt held it up in the air. "No, Nick! You are going to answer it!"

"No! I'm not doing that!" Nick tried climbing on Schmidt to reach the phone. Schmidt shoved his face away, but Nick fought back until finally, the ringing phone was in his hands.

Before Schmidt could grab it, Nick threw it across the room into the steel door, breaking the phone into a dozen little pieces.

Nick looked at Schmidt, pressing his hands together. "Well, I guess that solved it," he laughed.

"Breaking your phone so you don't have to answer a phone call?!"

"Hey! It was mine so I could do whatever I wanted!"

"But it still doesn't explain why you won't pick up the phone for Bug Eyes! I mean who is…" Schmidt stopped, his eyes going wide. "Oh my God, she was real?!"

Nick shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about,"

"Bug Eyes! When you came out of the supply closet at the bar and said you had sex with an alien with bug eyes!" Schmidt laughed. "She was a real person and now, what? Seven years later she's calling you!"

"No, no, no, that's not what's going on!"

"You were so messed up that night, I was certain it was just a part of your trip, but it was real!"

The front door swung open and Jess came in. "Guys-!"

"Not now, Jess. Nick has been holding out and it's time for him to come clean,"

"I wasn't holding out! I thought the whole thing was a dream too!"

"Oh yeah? But how long has it been since you figured it wasn't? Is she your booty call now?"

"Guys! I can't find Huxley!"

That silenced the argument immediately. "What?" Nick asked, his heart beat picking up.

Jess let out a huff, her hand brushing back her hair. "I've been trying to call you and no one has been answering their phones! Have you seen him?!"

"Well, Nick destroyed his phone, so-"

"Schmidt! Have you seen my son?!"

Schmidt shook his head. "Look, I'm sure he's just hiding somewhere,"

Jess took several shallow breaths and her eyes began darting everywhere.

Nick quickly went up to her and grabbed her arms. "Hey, Jess, look at me. We're going to find him. I'm sure he's fine, okay? Have you called the police?"

Jess blinked and shook her head. "No, why…I just…I turned around for a second and he was gone!"

"Who are we talking about?" Winston asked, coming out of his room as soon as he heard all the commotion.

"I can't find Huxley!"

Winston frowned. "He's in my room right now. We were just about to break out a puzzle. He told me you knew he was here,"

"Oh my God, he's been here this whole time?!" Jess stormed down the hall, leaving the guys standing there.

"Winston, you are not pulling out a puzzle right now,"

"And why on God's good green earth would I not?"

"Because you get weird and none of us want to deal with that right now,"

"Yes, we already have to deal with Nick's weirdness and him refusing to tell me about Bug Eyes,"

Winston frowned in thought for a moment, before his eyebrows rose as his memory refreshed. "Oh, that Bug Eyes?"

"It's not important and I destroyed my phone so it doesn't even matter anymore!"

Jess came back down the hallway, with Huxley in front of her and strong grip on his shoulder. "Thank you, Winston for watching him. Huxley, what do you say?"

Huxley wouldn't look at them, choosing to stare at his shoes instead.

"Huxley," Jess said in her warning tone.

"Sorry," Huxley mumbled.

"For?"

Huxley rolled his eyes. "For lying,"

"Thank you, we're leaving now," Jess shot them an apologetic look as she started walking for the door.

But Huxley stopped walking and turned to face her. "I don't wanna go," he whined.

Jess took a deep breath. "Huxley, we're going. Right now. March,"

"Well, he can stay if he wants to. I mean, did you have something planned?" Nick spoke up. Because if Huxley was here, he could watch him and use him as an excuse to avoid all questions about Bug Eyes.

"She invited some guy over and she's making a fancy dinner and I don't want to meet him because he's going to be weird and gross,"

All of their eyebrows shot up. "You've got a date?" Nick asked, speaking for the three of them.

Jess screwed her eyes shut for a second, then opened them with quick exhale. "Yes, I have a date,"

Schmidt looked like he was about to whoop, but Winston nudged him, silently reminding him about Huxley's not-so-subtle feelings about this.

"He's excited to meet you, Huxley, so you have to be there. Now let's get moving," Jess pushed Huxley forward. She gave a quick wave before Huxley could stop again

But this time, it was Jess that stopped. The hallway looked cloudy for some reason...

"Is that smoke coming from under your door?" Schmidt asked.

Nick reacted first, running down the hall with Winston following after him. He threw open the door to Jess' apartment and a cloud of smoke escaped.

Jess ran in as well, pushing past the guys to turn off the oven and open it.

More smoke came out and Jess gabbed an oven mitt to start waving the smoke away. "Ugh! This is a disaster!"

"Aw, don't tell me you burned some lasagna! That stuff was good!" Winston cried as he grabbed a pillow to help wave the smoke away.

Jess coughed and started to help Nick open the windows. "No, it was chicken. It didn't even burn! It was from this…goop that Huxley left in the oven and I completely forgot and this whole day is ruined!"

"Just order some take out. I mean, this smoke will go away eventually," Nick said. "Give it the ambiance of an old-timey night club,"

Jess gave him a death glare and Nick immediately shut up. "Now I have to call Paul and Cece and tell them tonight's canceled,"

"Wait, Cece's coming?" Schmidt had walked in just in time to hear that.

Jess sighed, waving the oven mitt for the smoke to leave through the windows. "Yeah, it was going to be a double date and-"

"Loft meeting!" Schmidt declared, running back to the loft.

Nick rolled his eyes and shared an annoyed look with Winston. But they followed after Schmidt, leaving Jess alone to get the smoke out of her apartment.

They came in to see Schmidt pacing at the entrance and Huxley making himself comfortable on their couch, flipping through the channels.

"Okay, here's the plan," Schmidt said, coming to a stop in front of Winston and Nick. "We let Jess have her double date here,"

"Why would we do that?" Nick asked.

"Because we're just trying to help a neighbor out," Schmidt glanced back at Huxley and lowered his voice. "Besides, have any of you noticed any men stopping by to visit her? No. You haven't because there's been none-"

"Wait, how do you know who visits Jess?" Winston asked.

"That's not important right now. What's important is that our neighbor who has been single for almost as long as Winston here is finally getting a date and we will not let a little smoke situation ruin that for her,"

Nick crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "You're trying to sabotage Cece's date,"

"What?" Schmidt exclaimed, placing his hand over his heart. "Nicholas, you offend me! How dare you accuse me of acting the saboteur!"

"Oh, come on, Schmidt! You've been trying to get in her pants ever since you met her!"

"Why does Schmidt want to use Aunt Cece's pants?"

Nick winced, remembering Huxley was a master at pretending not to listen when he was actually cataloging every word. "Uh, nothing, Huxley. And don't ask your mom about it either!"

"My motives shouldn't matter in this. Are we going to help Jess out or not?" Schmidt continued in a much quieter voice.

"No," Nick answered. "I don't like the idea and I don't want to get involved. So it's a no from me,"

"Well obviously, my vote is a yes. Winston, you're the swing vote."

Winston groaned. "Why am I always the swing vote?"

"Because this idiot always has stupid ideas that I'm trying to prevent from reaching the public,"

Schmidt glared at Nick. "Whatever, Nick. I have brilliant ideas. You're just mad about your destroyed phone,"

"Okay, fine! She can have the double date here!" Winston exclaimed.

"Yes! Parkour!"

* * *

Jess pursed her lips as she stared at Schmidt. He stared back, unblinking with arms crossed. She titled her head a little and he narrowed his eyes.

"I bet Cece would find it pretty neat that you know how to cook,"

"Fine! I'll cook! But don't expect this from me every time you invite a boy over!" Schmidt declared as he whipped the apron off the oven handle.

Jess grinned, excited to finally figure out a way to get Schmidt to do things for her. Would she abuse this new power? No. Okay, maybe a little. But tonight she really did need his help. The only dinner dish she knew how to make was lasagna and roasted chicken. All her other expertise was with baking. And since Schmidt knew what they did and didn't have in the loft, he was the perfect chef for tonight.

Her phone rang and she answered after seeing it was Cece. "Hey, you almost here? You did get my text about the change of venue, right?"

_"Yeah, I saw that, but I'm not going to be able to come,"_

Jess internally cursed. "What? Why?" she lowered her voice and walked away from the kitchen and out of Schmidt's hearing range.

_"Kyle just bailed on me. Again,"_

Jess rolled her eyes. "I don't understand why you're still with him," she mumbled.

_"I'm really sorry, babe. I know how much you wanted me to come,"_

"Well…what if you still came? We can…change things up?"

_"Jess, what are you thinking?"_

"Look, Huxley is not liking this whole thing at all. I mean, you heard what he did to me an hour ago!" Jess glanced into the living room where Huxley was sitting next to Nick, watching a football game on TV. "But he's super relaxed right now and he's not following me around demanding I cancel this entire thing…what if we just had a regular dinner and Paul was just another guest? No pressure on anyone,"

"So you're going to call Paul who is probably on his way right now and tell him this isn't a date anymore? That he's just coming over to hang out?"

"Well, it sounds like a horrible idea when you say it like that, but trust me, Cece. If this is going to make it easier for Huxley then this is what needs to happen.

Cece sighed, still not liking the idea, but Jess knew she had her convinced enough to at least go along. "All right. I'll be there in a little bit,"

"Thank you, Cees!" Jess hung up and moved to stand in front of the TV. "All right, everybody listen up. We have got a new plan for dinner,"

"Well, can you hurry up and tell us? We're missing the game," Winston said, leaning over to see if he could get a better view.

"So it's not going to be a double date anymore. Cece's date just bailed,"

Schmidt chuckled as he brought a knife down on an onion. "Did he now?"

Jess rolled her eyes. "It's just going to be a normal dinner. No pressure or anything. Just some friends, hanging out and having a good ol' time,"

"Is Paul still coming?" Huxley asked.

"Yes, he is,"

Huxley frowned. "I don't want him to come,"

"Well, he is and you are going to really like him,"

"I don't know, Jess. This doesn't seem like a good idea,"

Jess laughed. "What? Are you kidding me? This is a great idea! You know, everyone's going to be so relaxed and we can get to know each other even more and it's going to be fine," Jess thought a moment as she looked at the frown on Nick's face. "I just need you not to do that thing that you do,"

"What thing? I don't do a thing," Nick countered.

"Yes, you get all mean and you make that little turtle face,"

"Okay, I don't think I make a turtle face,"

"Well you do, so don't do it," Jess looked at Huxley who was frowning as well. And the face gave her pause. "Oh my God, Huxley…you're spending too much time with Nick. You are making the same exact turtle face,"

"Curious and curiouser," Winston muttered from the other side of the couch, staring at Nick and Huxley with a curious look.

Jess frowned and looked at him. "What?"

"Oh, um, nothing, I just…you know what? I think I just heard the puzzle calling me," Winston shot up and practically ran to his room.

Jess shook her head, choosing to ignore Winston's behavior. She turned her attention back to Nick. "Just talk to him like a normal human being. Not about politics or small business loans or the Google conspiracy thing, okay? I've only see him at school and I really want to wow him tonight, okay? Please, he's the only guy I've liked since Spencer. I'm not good at this stuff, so please just help me."

"All right fine. I'll help you." Nick said after a beat.

"Same goes for you, buddy." Jess said, pointing her finger at Huxley.

Huxley frowned with his turtle face and crossed his arms.

Jess just sighed and shook her head. Before she could continue enticing them to behave, someone knocked on the door. Her eyes widened as she looked to the door, then back to Nick and Huxley. "He's here!" she whispered-yelled.

Another knock.

"Are you going to answer it?" Nick asked.

Jess shook herself and hurried to answer before there could be another knock.

Nick looked down at Huxley while Jess was composing herself enough to answer the door. "You heard your mom. She wants to wow this guy, so let's help her wow him,"

"But he has to ask me first," Huxley said quietly.

Nick pursed his lips. "I know, bud. But how about we talk to him first and then see if he asks. Yeah?" he gave Huxley a gentle push for him to stand up. Nick stood as well and they both went to the entrance where Jess was standing with who they could only assume was Paul.

"Paul, this is Huxley, my son," Jess said. She motioned for Huxley to get closer.

Huxley glanced up at Nick, who gave him a small nod, before taking a few more steps until he was standing right in front of Paul. "Hi," he mumbled.

Paul put his hands on his knees and hunched over. "Well hello to you too, young sir. It sure is a real treat to met ya'!"

Nick frowned. Was this guy actually talking in an old timey accent? Maybe his idea of the smoky nightclub wasn't a bad idea.

Jess laughed. "I reckon the young sir here is excited to hear you play a tune on your fiddle there,"

"Oh, this is actually a violin," Paul said in his normal voice as he straightened.

"Yeah, I was just…you know, what? Never mind. Uh, this is Nick. He's one of the guys who lives here and opened his humble abode to us,"

Nick fought to keep a smile on his face. "Hey," he said with a wave, making it clear he wasn't going to do a handshake.

"And Schmidt is in the kitchen making the food and Winston is in his room talking with a...puzzle,"

Huxley looked up at Paul expectantly. Paul kept eye contact for a moment before looking at Jess with a question, then back to Huxley. "Um…do you have something you want to ask me, Huxley? I am an open book,"

Huxley shook his head. "Do you have a question for me?"

"Oh, sure, yeah! I've got lots of questions for you little guy. I want to know everything there is about Huxley Day,"

Huxley glanced up at Nick. He shrugged his shoulders and Huxley looked back to Paul.

"Okay, why don't I go ahead and introduce you to Schmidt!" Jess exclaimed, grabbed Paul's hand and pulling him into the kitchen.

"He isn't going to ask me," Huxley whispered.

"He just came in the door. Give him some time," Nick said, moving back to the sofa. He would not miss anymore of the game.

Winston came out of his room soon enough to ease the worry in Nick's stomach. Too much time with a puzzle did weird things to Winston. Jess quickly introduced him to Paul before hurrying down the hallway to make a phone call. The three men and Huxley sat on the sofa, watching the game in silence.

Well, silence for about five seconds. "Ah, isn't this nice? A football game on TV, kicking back a couple of apple ales," Paul said.

Nick looked at the drink in his hand. "I think that's a lager, right?"

"This is an ale," Paul insisted, inspecting the bottle. "It has to do with the fermentation process."

"No, Nick is right. Because Nick is always right," Huxley said, crossing his arm

"But, you know, Paul could have a point. He's a teacher. Could be, could be. Uh, hey, do you watch a lot of football?" Nick said, quickly trying to change the subject.

"Ah yes! Who's playing right now? Is that the bears? Ah, the mighty, mighty Bears of Cincinati!" Paul took another drink of his apple 'ale.'

"The Bears are from Chicago. Chicago Bears," Huxley corrected.

Nick looked down at him with a proud smile. "See, I knew you were picking stuff up when we were watching football the other night."

Winston cleared his throat. "How about we play a little game? Just so we can get to know you better and you can get to know us,"

* * *

Cece finally showed up, much to Jess' relief. But instead of her being the grounding force that Jess needed, she was somehow roped into helping Schmidt prepare the dinner. Jess teased Schmidt and told him the Queen of England wasn't coming over. After that comment, Schmidt banned her from the kitchen for a whole hour.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly. Nick and Winston were entertained with the game. Paul was talking with Huxley and asking him all kinds of questions. Huxley even answered a few times with more than just one word.

But there was a loud commotion in the kitchen and Schmidt yelling, "You beautiful savage!" he took a deep breath before announcing. "We need more walnuts. Cece here just contaminated all of them,"

"I can grab them," Paul said standing up and swayed a little. "Though shoot. I have had two apple ales. I probably shouldn't get behind the wheel of a car,"

"Nick, how many apple ales have you had?"

"Oh, I've had zero apple ale,"

"Then you can take Paul to the store, right?"

Once they were gone, Jess moved to sit at the kitchen bar, ignoring Schmidt's comments that she was disrupting his workspace and distracting his kitchen help.

But she needed to talk to Cece because what was she supposed to do about Huxley and his attitude?

* * *

Half an hour later, the door opened and Huxley turned around with a grin. Nick came in with Paul. Nick waved at him and made his way towards the couch while Paul pulled Jess aside.

"I don't think Nick likes me very much," Paul confessed.

"No-"

"Dinner is served! Actually, I do have to sprinkle the walnuts on the salad, but other than that, everything else is finally ready for consumption," Schmidt announced.

Paul was distracted by the food laid out on the table. He moved towards it, giving Jess the chance she needed to grab Nick's arm and pull him out of the loft. They stood in the floor hallway and she slammed the door unknowingly grabbing the attention of everyone else inside. "What are you doing? You promised me you'd be nice to him."

"I was nice to him," Nick said, raising his voice. "I've been very nice to Paul. The whole car ride over I was nice to him. You know what he tells me about? He likes  _Air Bud 2_. He loves dogs. I know where he gets his copies made. He likes to whistle. He wanted to open the door  _with_  me, so when my hand went up, so did his,"

Jess narrowed her eyes. "Oh, I get it. He's not cool enough for you. 'Cause nobody can be cool enough for cool Nick Miller," Jess imitated his turtle face. "I'm Nick Miller. I'm so cool, I'll make my cool face. Why don't you like him?!"

"Who cares? Do you like him?"

"Of course I like him."

"Okay, fine! It doesn't matter what I think, does it?!"

"Well it does matter what you think because you're rubbing off on Huxley! You're being such a bad example to him when I asked you both to be nice!"

"It's not my fault he doesn't like Paul! I have been very nice and Huxley sees that! Why haven't you asked Huxley yourself why he doesn't like Paul?! Maybe there's a very specific reason aside from him not liking his name!"

"Because I haven't been able to pull him away from you today and when you were gone, he refused to talk to me!" Jess threw her hands up in frustration. "You're just this big blob of negative juju that Huxley's attached himself too and now he's become full of negative juju too!"

The door opened and Winston poked his face out. "Hey, Jess, uh, just want you to know everyone really loves Paul, well can't really speak for Huxley right now. And also, we can hear everything you're saying."

Jess' heart dropped. "What?"

"Play through." Winston said before going back in, leaving the door open.

"After you, Jess." Nick said as he kicked the door open, revealing everyone standing around awkwardly.

Everyone except Huxley and Cece. "So um, just a heads up. We were just rehearsing a play that, uh, that Nick is writing. It's called…Juju. It's…it's about a man with a lot of negative juju that rubs off on a lot of other people, especially a man named Huxley and it's not very good."

Jess made eye contact with Nick and glared at his smug face. She swallowed hard. "Where's Huxley?"

Schmidt pointed just down the hall and Jess followed his direction.

Huxley had gone into Nick's room. Of course. He had curled up in a ball on the bed, having kicked off his shoes. Cece sat next to him, gently rubbing his arm.

When Cece saw Jess come in, she got up and kissed Huxley's cheek. She left the room, giving Jess' arm a sympathetic squeeze on her way out.

Jess walked towards the bed, taking Cece's vacated spot. "Hey Hux Bug,"

Huxley didn't respond.

Jess took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, baby. I didn't say very nice things out there, did I?"

Huxley looked up at Jess. "Am I really full of negative juju?"

"Oh, honey, no," she said, pulling him up into his lap. "I was just really frustrated with Nick and I said a lot of things."

Huxley rubbed his nose. "I'm sorry I wasn't nice to Paul."

Jess played with his hair. "And I'm sorry I haven't asked you why you don't like him."

"He sings too much and he makes weird voices and sometimes he thinks he knows more than Nick just because he's a teacher, but he doesn't. Nick is really smart too and he…" Huxley huffed. "He didn't ask me first."

Jess frowned. "Ask you what?"

"If he could have my permission to take you on a date."

Jess closed her eyes. "Oh, Huxley. I'm so sorry about that, baby. How about we go outside and see if he remembers to ask you? Do you forgive me?"

Huxley nodded his head and sat up.

Jess gave him a tight hug. "Good. Remember, you are always my number one, before any other guy that might come into the picture. Got it?"

Huxley smiled and nodded.

"Okay, now let's see what kind of dinner Schmidt managed to cook."

* * *

Nick was only on his second 'ale.' He wanted to have much more after the fight with Jess, but he knew how he got when he was drunk. No one needed to see that. Especially Huxley. But Huxley was pushing the food around on his plate and ignoring everyone.

There was conversation during dinner, but it was quiet and awkward and Nick honestly wanted to kill himself. And he did not care that Jess hated hyperbolic speech.

But the dinner from hell was finally over and Nick was sitting on the couch again, watching the highlights from the game with Winston. Huxley was lying behind the couch they were sitting on, crayons spread out and papers scattered everywhere. He was entertained and no one was going to interrupt him.

Paul was in the kitchen with Jess watching as she frosted some cupcakes for everyone. They talked quietly, teasing and laughing until something compelled him to join Nick on the couch, squeezing in between him and Winston. "Nick, I gotta just say something to you. I feel like you think I'm kind of annoying,"

"You didn't have to come here to say that. You could've done that from the other side of couch,"

"Okay, and if that's the case, which I don't know that it is,"

"It is,"

"I don't care. I actually feel sort of sorry for you because at this point in your life, I know that you'll never dislike me more than you dislike yourself."

"Really? That's what you're going with, Violin?"

"Stop being mean to Nick," Huxley said, his head appearing up from behind the couch.

"Don't worry about it, Hux. We were just talking," Nick said, waving him away.

Huxley looked at Nick and nodded, but still glaring at Paul as he laid back on his stomach on the floor.

Nick shrugged as he looked at Paul. "Don't know what to tell you about that, except he's waiting for you to ask for permission."

"From who?"

"The man of the house, of course,"

Paul furrowed his brow, about to ask something else, but Nick stood with an exaggerated groan. "All right, time for work. Paul, nice meeting you. I don't know, see you around or something," Nick walked out, saying his goodbyes to whoever was listening.

Paul pursed his lips as he stood up and walked back over to Jess. "Thanks for coming over," Jess said. "I know this probably wasn't the ideal first date,"

"What do you mean? I had a great time," Paul tapped the table nervously as Jess set the frosted cupcakes on a plate. "And I just want to say I think the arrangement you and Nick have is great."

Jess tilted her head. "Okay…?"

"Yeah, I mean, it's good for Huxley. Getting to see Nick practically every day. It's obvious he loves Nick so much. I'm glad that he finally has his dad in his life."

"What?!" Jess exclaimed, drawing everyone's attention. She huffed. "What are you saying?" she said, this time much quieter.

"Yeah, I always thought Huxley looked nothing like you and now I know that he gets his looks from his dad,"

Jess shook her head. "No, no, no, Paul. You don't understand. Huxley is not Nick's. We barely meet Nick just a few months ago. Huxley just hangs out with Nick too much and has started copying his faces and behavior."

"Oh,"

"Yeah,"

"So…nothing's happened between you and Nick? 'Cause I really don't want to get in the middle of anything. I mean, he told me Huxley's waiting for me to ask for Nick's permission to date you."

"What?"

"Yeah, I'm supposed to ask the man of the house or something."

Jess sighed. "No. No, that's not what he meant. He's talking about Huxley. Huxley would really like it if you asked for his permission first,"

"Oh, well, I guess I'll have to do it right now. Because I really want to see you again."

Jess giggled. She couldn't remember the last time she giggled because of a boy.

* * *

Nick was exhausted. The day was long, that dinner was something he never wanted to endure again, and Outside Dave had tried following him inside the building again, this time claiming his ex-wife was back from Jupiter and wanted to mate.

No matter how long he worked at the bar, he could never get used to being on the last shift and coming home at four in the morning. He rubbed his face as the elevator doors opened to the floor. He wondered if he would even make it to his bed. The idea of just crashing on the couch sounded better with every passing second.

"Nick!"

Nick spun around to see Huxley standing at his doorway. "Huxley, what are you doing out of bed right now?" Nick groaned, walking towards him so the boy wouldn't leave the apartment.

"I was waiting for you to come back,"

Nick crouched down in front of him. "This better be important. I've got an appointment with Dr. Sleep,"

Huxley rubbed his eyes and Nick wondered if he really stayed by the door waiting for the elevator to ding. "Paul finally asked me,"

Nick nodded. "And what did you say?"

Huxley shrugged. "Mom was really happy today because he was there. So I told him it was okay,"

"Do you like him?"

He shrugged again. "It's 'cause he sings too much,"

Nick chuckled. "Yeah, well, so does your mom and you like her,"

"Only because I have to," Huxley said as he covered a yawn.

Nick ruffled his hair. "Go to bed before your mom sees you up,"

"Nick?"

"Last question before I pick you up myself and take you back to your room,"

"Do you like Mom's singing?"

Nick let out deep breath. "Yeah, she's got a great singing voice,"

"Well then do you-"

"Nope, I said last question. You are done and need to go back to bed,"

Huxley rolled his eyes, but didn't argue. He turned around and Nick watched him walk down the hall of the apartment. He closed the door once Huxley was in his room and stood up. Yes, Nick was ready for bed and he did not want to think about Jess' singing voice, broken phones, or Bug Eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

Huxley had a breakthrough once Paul asked him for permission to date his mom. Jess noticed his attempts to be nice to Paul and wouldn't shut him down completely when he sang or spoke in a caricature accent. He even let Paul take him to the park once, just the two of them, while Jess ran a few errands.

The only problem was Paul didn't see the breakthrough like Jess did. He pushed Huxley for more, not understanding this was already so much for him.

Four dates in and Jess knew what she needed to do. Which hurt because she honestly did like Paul. But like she had reassured Huxley the first time Paul came over, he was her number one.

Jess opened the door to her apartment and could hear the soothing voice of the narrator from  _How It's Made_. It was only Nick on the sofa though. Meaning Huxley was already asleep. "Hey," Jess said, kicking off her heels. "How was Huxley?"

Nick put the TV on mute. "Uh oh, what happened?"

Jess frowned. "Uh, nothing happened. I went on my date and now I'm back,"

Nick grabbed his beer and followed Jess into the kitchen. "Come on, Jess. I know you. What happened?"

Jess opened the fridge and grabbed a beer, not remember when she bought beer, but deciding not to follow that train of thought. "We got into an argument," Jess circled the rim with her finger, not looking at Nick. "About Huxley," She took a long drink from her beer.

Nick winced. "That bad, huh?"

"He just doesn't get Huxley, you know? I mean, I love him. He's my kid and he's so smart and great and his heart the biggest thing in the world, but he's so reserved and kind of weird actually and just…he acts like an old man sometimes," Jess couldn't help her fond smile though and it grew when she saw Nick smiling back, knowing he was thinking of different examples to back up her statements about Huxley.

Nick took a drink of his beer and…gurgled it?

Jess blinked, watching him with an odd feeling bubbling in her stomach. Indigestion? Maybe she was drinking her beer too fast. She set it down on the counter and crossed her arms. She cleared her throat, gaining her bearings again. "Speaking of Huxley, how did he behave tonight?"

"Eh, you know, like a normal six-year-old. There were tears, yelling, a fire,"

" _What?_ "

"Okay, so I burned some onions I was cutting and the whole pan caught on fire. But don't worry. Huxley knew where the fire extinguisher was,"

Jess shook her head, "I am never leaving him alone with you again,"

Nick laughed, "You are a liar, Jessica. I've become your babysitting bitch and you aren't going to give that up,"

"Hey, no, that's not true! I only asked you to watch him because Cece was busy tonight. You are not my babysitting bitch,"

Nick held up his hands. "Was I complaining about it?"

Jess rolled her eyes and hated herself just a little bit for smiling.

* * *

Nick rubbed his eyes, still trying to wipe the sleep away. He hated his new phone and hated that he let Schmidt pick it out. There were no buttons and the alarm kept going off and Nick was close to throwing it against the wall to break it again. But that was one of Schmidt's conditions. He pick out Nick's new phone and he wouldn't bring up Bug Eyes again.

But would he really notice if Nick somehow ended up with a different phone? One just like his old one? Nick would have to check the return policy today.

He walked into the living room, heading for the kitchen, and saw Huxley sitting at the dining table with Schmidt.

"Hi Nick," Huxley greeted.

"Huxley, focus. What did I just tell you?" Schmidt said, ignoring Nick for the moment.

"It's all about body language," Huxley repeated.

Nick frowned. "Schmidt, are you corrupting the kid?"

"No, I'm educating him how to seduce a woman,"

"He's six. He doesn't need to know that. Besides, Hux Bug has enough charm to do it with just a wink," Nick said, opening the fridge to see what he could quickly heat up. There were no left overs, but he did notice a jar of jelly. When did they buy jelly?

"He can't even wink!"

Nick closed the fridge to see Huxley attempting a wink.

"I can too wink!" Huxley defended. "Winston taught me,"

"And that was your mistake," Nick said, reaching into the fruit bowl for an orange. He would just have to order some take-out in a little bit. "Your mom know you're here? Remember what happened last time,"

"My permission slip is on the fridge,"

Nick turned to look at the door to the fridge again. And sure enough, there was a permission slip for Huxley to stay in 4D signed by Jessica Day. Her teacher was showing again.

"She asked if you were here when she dropped him off. As if she thinks I'm incapable of watching him," Schmidt said, leaning back in his chair. "I've done a great job at watching you, right Huxley?"

Huxley nodded, smiling at Nick.

"Okay, focus back on me, Huxley. I need to correct what Winston's done with your winking skills,"

Nick watched in amusement as Schmidt explained the history behind the wink, knowing Schmidt was fabricating most of it.

Before Schmidt could actually get into the specifics of teaching Huxley how to wink, the door opened and Jess came in.

Nick gave her a sympathetic smile as he noticed the exhaustion in her face. "Hey Jess,"

Jess smiled back. "Schmidt, did Huxley behave?"

"I did, Mom. Schmidt's teaching me how to wink because Winston did it wrong,"

"I'm sure he'll be a natural once I correct this," Schmidt said.

Jess frowned, looking at Nick for an explanation.

Nick shook his head. "You don't want to know,"

Schmidt continued on with his lesson since Jess didn't call Huxley immediately over for them to leave.

"So…I'm guessing you went to see Paul?" Nick poked around for information.

Jess sighed, opening the fridge and grabbing the jar of jelly. "Yeah, we talked and…" Jess shrugged, as she tried twisting the top off. "It went as well as it possibly could. We parted as good friends, which is great because I still have to work with him. But at least summer's almost here and I can get away from him for three months,"

Nick half listened to her. His eyes were drawn to her hands, gripping the jar, turning white with the effort she was putting in trying to open it. It wouldn't budge, but damn, her grip looked strong and-

"Earth to Nick,"

Nick shot his eyes up to her face when he heard her robot voice. "What?"

Jess gave him an odd look. "Where'd you go?" she asked with small laugh.

"I, uh…well, it's no-not really…um…hi, Jess,"

Jess rolled her eyes. "Can you open this for me? I think it's stuck or something,"

Nick swallowed hard, taking the jar and opening it with one twist. But Jess had turned around and started pulling out peanut butter and bread. "Have you been stocking our pantry?" Nick asked, forgetting his previous thoughts.

"Oh yeah, Huxley's starting to hang out here a lot and it makes it easier to have some food that he'll actually eat accessible to him here,"

Nick frowned and looked at Schmidt. "And you let her?"

Schmidt shrugged his shoulders, not breaking eye contact with Huxley as he demonstrated a proper wink. "As long as Huxley doesn't make things sticky, it's fine,"

"Come on, Nick. Don't act so surprised. You stocked beer in my fridge too,"

"All right, fine. I like to keep the places I frequent stocked with things I need to survive,"

"The only thing you left was beer,"

Nick shrugged. "Your point?"

* * *

Nick looked at himself in the mirror. Well, this was as good as it was going to get. This was date number five and so far he had done a good job at keeping this whole thing hush hush. But everyone was out there right now, including Jess and Huxley. For some reason, they had decided to just spend the day at the loft instead of going back to their own apartment.

Normally, Nick wouldn't complain. He didn't mind having them around. But he was dressed in his jury duty pants and one of them would likely point it out.

Nick pulled out his fancy dinner sweater, took a deep breath, and prepared himself to leave his room and face everyone.

But in those few seconds he took to compose himself, his mind brought up Jess' hands trying to open that damn jar and how hard she tried and the little noises she made while-

"What the hell, you pervert!" Nick hissed to himself. He shook his head, cleared his thoughts, and walked out without any other hesitation.

Huxley was sitting on the couch still, he looked at Nick, frowned, but focused on the cartoons he was watching. Good, no comment from him, so he all Nick needed to do was not draw attention to his outfit.

"I'm still trying to understand why you didn't tell us about this sooner! Do you have any idea the kind of entertainment I could've pulled out for this event!" Schmidt said, his frustration clearly showing.

Jess rolled her eyes. "It's not like it's a significant number or anything. Yeah, I can't believe my baby is turning another year older, but it is only seven,"

"What's going on?" Nick asked, unable to catch the subject of the discussion.

"Schmidt wants to hire a DJ for Huxley's birthday party next weekend, the same one that did Frank Muniz's," Winston recapped.

"Just get him a cake and some balloons," Nick said as he joined them at the kitchen bar.

"I am not throwing him a boring party either,"

"Can you believe it, Nick? She doesn't even have a venue!"

"The apartment is fine!"

"What if you had it at the bar?"

"A kid's party at a bar?"

"Or you could have it on the roof. Kids aren't in your place and you don't have to rent it out. Just get there first thing in the morning,"

"I like this direction guys, but I'm sorry, I do have to go. I apologize," Nick said, patting his pocket and making sure he had his wallet and phone. He stood, grabbing his sweater and headed for the door without making any eye contact.

"Where are you going?" Winston asked. "And why are you wearing your jury duty pants?"

Of course it was Winston that would point out his outfit. He was the wildcard out of everyone. "I'm not, man, I just…mumble, mumble, mumble," Nick stammered, walking out before they could throw any other questions at him.

* * *

Jess sat at the table with Winston, notes scribbled on napkins and take-out menus that covered their work space.

"Okay, so after the magician finishes, then we have a pin the tail on the donkey competition-"

Winston interrupted Jess. "No, the magician happens after that competition. Whoever the winner is will begin gloating and a gloating child can be pretty unbearable,"

Jess made the adjustment to the schedule. "Wait, why was mime scratched out? I have a great mime routine and it'll bring the house down," Jess said with a proud smile.

"No, Mom. I don't want you to embarrass me," Huxley said from the couch.

Jess groaned. "He isn't even a pre-teen yet and already I embarrass him," She tapped her pen on the table, her thoughts straying from the pending party and to Nick. Why was he dressed so nicely? Did he have a date? Because it was too late for a job interview right now and from what she understood, he was content at the bar.

But it was great if he really was on a date. That meant he had officially moved on from Caroline and Jess was happy for him. Except her mind brought up the memory of him gurgling his beer. Was that a party trick he did and was he doing that for his date right now and why the hell did she care?

"Hey, random question…does Nick, like, I don't know…always gurgle his beer?"

Winston smirked, "Yeah, Schmidt's been trying to train that out of Nick since they first met,"

Jess' phone rang and she quickly answered. "Hi, Mr. Twinkles! I'm so glad you were able to return my call,"

The door opened and Nick came in…followed by a woman nobody had ever seen before. Nick was looking at her and laughing, but it died in his throat as soon as he saw Winston and Jess at the table.

"Um, hey everyone, this is Julia. We're just saying hi,"

So he did have date tonight. Jess gave a quick wave with a bright smile. She pointed to her phone, shrugged and turned around to finish the conversation.

Huxley turned around on the couch to look at Julia. "Is that why you wore your jury duty pants?" Huxley asked.

Nick gave him a tight smile as he tried not to look at Julia's reaction. "Yeah, Huxley and Jess are actually our neighbors down the hall. Uh, Huxley, I'm surprised you're still here actually. Isn't it past your bedtime?"

"We're planning a party for Huxley here. Big boy is turning seven next week. Schmidt's actually out right now trying to find a DJ," Winston said.

"Who is that?" Julia asked, looking at Nick.

Huxley looked at Winston, who was looking at Nick with a small frown.

"Oh I didn't tell you about Schmidt?"

"That's our other roommate," Winston said with a forced chuckle. "You know what? You should come. It's on Saturday,"

"Yes! You would love it," Jess said, covering the mouthpiece on her phone.

"You should stay as far away from that party as possible," Nick whispered to Julia.

"So are you wanting presents or is this like a donations to charity situation?" Julia asked Huxley.

Huxley didn't answer her. Instead, he scrunched his nose at her and turned back to the TV.

Jess was too preoccupied with her phone to realize what happened, so Winston quickly answered. "Just bring yourself,"

"Do you want to head to my room for a little bit?" Nick asked Julia. "Give you the rest of the tour around the place,"

"Great, yeah," Julia said. She waved at them as Nick pointed out his room to her.

He followed her, stopping just outside his room and closing the door once she was in. Once the door was closed, he spun on his heel and walked right back into the living room. "Hey, Winston, why'd you do that?"

"Are you hiding her from us? Like are you ashamed of your friends?"

"One hundred percent, and you're not my friend right now. You're my enemy, Winston, my enemy,"

Winston got up and walked towards him. But Nick turned his attention to Huxley. "And you too, Huxley. Why did you have to make faces at her?"

Huxley didn't turn around to look at Nick. He sat with his arms crossed, staring at the TV.

Nick groaned and started walking backwards when he saw Winston coming in closer.

"Give me a kiss, give me a kiss," Winston said, reaching his hands out for Nick.

"No, that's the problem!" Nick exclaimed, pointing at Winston with a glare until he was in his room again.

"Thanks, Mr. Twinkles. We'll be expecting Petal Patches next Saturday," Jess hung up the phone with a smile. "Well, Julia seems nice,"

* * *

Nick could only guess what kind of parties Jess would throw based on her personality. But once Schmidt became involved in the party planning process, he knew the event was going to be too extravagant for a seven year old. He hoped Winston would rein them in somehow, but it seemed unlikely.

The entire week, Nick tried getting Huxley's opinion on the whole thing. Huxley was refusing to speak to him though and Nick couldn't understand why. Was he really that upset at Nick after he called him out on making faces at Julia?

It didn't matter if Huxley was talking to him or not. Nick was going to his birthday party. And Julia was coming too. No matter how much Nick told her she didn't need to come.

When Nick finally went inside Jess' apartment, almost all the other guests were there. Several kids were running around, laughing and screaming while their parents mingled politely. Schmidt and Winston had come early to help Jess set up. Nick wanted to laugh as Schmidt's face was turning red from restraining himself against yelling at a child who was following him around.

Julia looked around the room, taking everything in. "So this is, like, your world, huh?"

Nick shook his head. "No…"

"It is," Julia continued, with a small teasing smile. "It's you in your natural habitat, it's fascinating,"

"I'm just here for Huxley. I don't know any of these people. Especially those screaming kids. I've never seen them before in my life,"

Julia laughed, her attention moving to Schmidt who was writing out a check to one of the kids in return for them not to touch him with their chocolate-stained hands. "You really live with that guy, huh?"

"Yeah, I really do,"

"Does he, like, tuck his shiny jeans into boots when he goes out at night?"

"You know, the truth is, I met Schmidt a long time ago when we were in college and he was this sweet, chubby communications major who wore cargo shorts and-"

"I'm actually just messing you with you," Julia grinned. "Seriously, I think all of your friends seem completely awesome and nice and fun, so relax. Besides, I think it's cute one of your friends is a seven year old,"

Nick narrowed his eyes, still feeling as if there was sarcasm behind her words. "You don't have to say that. They're my friends, you can tease them,"

"I don't want to,"

"I tease them all the time, they don't care. Schmidt's a d-bag you know, but, like, not in a bad way. And, like, Jess is a total nut. Huxley's pretty good at mimicking my faces, so he's cool. But Winston is like this competitive maniac who loves Sister, Sister and he's, like, afraid of thunder. But I'm the voice of-"

"Behind you, he's behind you,"

"Right now he is?"

"Currently,"

Nick shrugged his shoulders. "And he's also one of my best friends," he said turning around to see Winston and Huxley.

"Oh, no, keep going," Winston with a polite smile.

Nick mumbled something and led Julia away to a different part of the room, but paused for a quick moment while Julia kept walking. "I'm really sorry, man, I was just saying that to show off for her,"

"Oh, no, man, I am bringing you down,"

Nick gave him a pleading look as he followed after Julia. "Don't bring me down,"

Huxley frowned, looking up at Winston once Nick left. "Why is Nick acting weird?"

"Nick gets weird when he's trying to impress new girlfriends,"

Huxley's frown grew. "That his girlfriend?"

"Well, if you ask him, he'll just say they're not using labels,"

"What?"

"Yeah, dating as an adult is complicated, which is why you don't need to worry about it," Winston nudged Huxley's head. "Come on. I think your mom is about to start the games and Nick is right. I am a competitive maniac,"

* * *

Winston did a good job of reining both Jess and Schmidt in with the festivities. No DJ, no mimes, and no magicians. The only big mix-up was the clown Jess hired was not actually a clown. No, Petal Patches was actually a stripper.

Cece quickly stepped in and paid the clown to leave.

"Oh, this is a disaster," Jess mumbled as she watched the over-active kids running around the apartment, the parents growing less and less concerned they would break something. She looked over at Huxley who was sitting on the couch by himself, nibbling on some candy.

"Look, it's just one little mix-up. What else did you have planned?" Cece asked.

"The clown was the last thing before we sang happy birthday and cut the cake. What if we just sent everyone home already with some cake?"

"Babe, everyone's having a great time. Why would you want to do that?"

"Because look at Huxley. He didn't even want to have a party and now he looks like a miserable turtle," Jess sighed, glancing at Nick and wishing for just a moment that he would leave detach himself from Julia's hip to talk with Huxley and make him smile. Jess pushed that thought away quickly. Nick was just their neighbor, who was also their friend and one of the very few people that could get Huxley to laugh with just a few words.

"Did you ask Huxley what he wanted to do at his party?"

Jess gave a wry smile. "He wanted Nick to share one of his Chicago stories,"

Cece rubbed Jess' back before stepping forward into the center of the room. "All right, I want everyone to listen to me! Kids, sit down right here in a circle," Cece put her hands on her hips, watching with an accomplished smile as they actually listened to her, surrounding Huxley on the couch. Once they were all in front of her, she announced, "It's story time presented by Nick Miller!"

The kids followed Cece's lead in clapping and cheering, which was then joined by Winston and Schmidt hollering.

All attention was on Nick and he stared at Jess for an explanation. She just shrugged and joined in with the cheering. Someone began chanting his name and Jess was almost certain Huxley started it.

"All right, Huxley. This is not gonna be attractive," Nick said with a quick glance at Julia as he walked towards the circle of children. He sat on the coffee table in front of the kids. "Happy birthday, Huxley," he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and… "I was born on a cold, lonely street on the south side of Chicago. As rumor has it, and there's no proof of this, obviously, but I delivered myself,"

* * *

Nick walked Julia to the elevator. After Nick shared his Chicago story, Huxley perked up enough to actually enjoy the rest of his party. Which was basically over by that point, but still. Julia stuck around for just a little bit after the opening of presents, but decided it was time to leave once all the children were gone and it was just the adults with no kids. Meaning Cece and the guys.

"So you were pretty quiet the rest of the evening…" Nick said, rubbing his hands together in a nervous tick.

Julia tilted her head with a curious smile. "Yeah, I was just trying to figure out if that story about your birth was true,"

Nick laughed, feeling some tension release as he heard the teasing in her voice. "What can I say? I'm a man of mystery,"

"That you are," Julia paused for a moment, pursing her lips, before speaking again. "I honestly never thought you were so good with kids,"

Nick waved his hand. "That? Huxley's just weird. He still doesn't have a legitimate reason to like me,"

Julia nodded, her mind processing some thoughts. But she never shared them as the elevator doors opened. She reached up to give Nick a quick kiss. "I'll call you later,"

Nick waved to her as the doors closed. He scratched the back of his head as he wandered back into Jess' apartment, sitting down in one of the empty chairs around the room.

"Aunt Cece, do the baby voice, do the baby voice!" Huxley exclaimed as he bounced on his knees.

Cece shook her head. "Oh, no, these guys aren't ready for it,"

"Please, Cece, ever since I met you I have been prepared for anything you might whip out," Schmidt said in a high-pitched voice. Of course, he had just inhaled helium.

"When we get back to the loft, jar, Schmidt," Winston said in a similar helium-pitched voice.

Huxley giggled, cuddling closer to Jess. "Did you enjoy your party?" Jess asked, playing with his curls.

Huxley nodded. "But I don't want another big party,"

"Oh, you better enjoy it while you still can," Schmidt said in his normal voice, letting the air drain out of the balloon he held. "Because once you hit thirty, it's all dark…"

"Don't listen to him. Schmidt's still upset because his last birthday wasn't what he was hoping for," Nick said.

Huxley looked at Nick for a moment before looking down at his hands.

Jess poked him gently in the side. "Don't you have something to say?"

Huxley squirmed a little before looking back up at Nick. "Thank you for the Chicago story,"

Nick smiled. It was the most Huxley had spoken to him that entire week. "For you, anytime,"

"Makes up for your lame gift," Schmidt said. "I mean, who gives a child a pack of envelopes?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter, but hopefully just as enjoyable! And I'm sure you readers will be happy with some of the conversations that are brought up... ;) and if any of you lovely folks want to follow me on tumblr, my profile is nachocheese-itsmycheese
> 
> Happy reading!

"Huxley, shower!"

"Just five more minutes!"

Jess shook the water off her hands, not bothering to properly dry them. She walked into the living room and stood in front of the TV. "It's either shower or finish washing the dishes. Your choice,"

Someone started knocking on her door. She pointed at Huxley. "I want a decision from you by the time I come back," she walked to the door and opened it with a smile. "Julia! Hey, thanks for coming by," she said, moving aside so Julia could walk in.

Julia shrugged. "Yeah, it's no problem. I'm stopping by Nick's after this anyways, so..."

Jess went back to the living room with Julia following her. Huxley was still on the couch, his arms crossed and a pout on his face as he saw Julia come in. But Jess was tired and did not want to deal with his expressions. "Huxley, decision?"

"I'll go shower," he mumbled, dragging his feet all the way to the bathroom. It was good enough for Jess and she could address his pouting later.

"Whew! Sorry about him. It's been a long day. Have a seat," Jess said as she walked into the kitchen, properly dried her hands, and grabbed the plate of cupcakes and cookies she had just finished decorating. She set the plate down on the coffee table. "Let me get you a blanket,"

"Why would I want a blanket right now?"

Jess ignored Julia's protests. "Just to get toasty," she took her seat next to Julia. "Would you like a cookie or a cupcake? I made them,"

"Oh, no. I'm okay," Julia said, her back straight and become tense by the second. "I'm not really a dessert person,"

Jess blinked looking down at the plate, unable to believe she just invited someone into her home who was not a dessert person. It was so hard to believe that Jess grabbed a napkin and went ahead and set a cupcake in Julia's lap.

Julia stared at the cupcake, having to hold it in her hand to keep the frosting from getting on the blanket. She took a deep breath. "Okay, so why exactly were you called to court. Is it a custody battle or something? The father wants most visitation rights?"

Jess sat back, caught off guard by Julia's questions. "What?"

"I mean that is why you're going to court, right? Something to do with Huxley's father," Julia finally gave up and set the cupcake back down on the coffee table. "What other reason is there for someone like you?"

Jess stared at the cupcake she had just set down. "Um…it's actually for a driving through a red light ticket. They got a picture of me. At the scene of the crime," Jess sang that last part.

"Oh okay. Well do you have the picture?" Julia asked, wanting to forget Jess actually singing mid-conversation.

Jess pulled out a basket under the coffee table and grabbed the first sheet on top. She watched Julia look it over. "Hmm, this may actually be kind of hard to argue with,"

All right, then. So they were just going to play it off like Julia never mentioned anything about Huxley's father. "Well, there's actually more there than meets the eye," Jess started. "Um, there was a bird, he's not in the shot, but he was injured and couldn't get out of the road, and so I braked, and then I had to accelerate out of the intersection,"

Julia stared at Jess, trying to comprehend if Jess was being completely serious. She looked back down at the paper. "You missed your first court date on this,"

"My ex-boyfriend failed to send it to me before the court date, because he doesn't believe in mail, which has to do with his thoughts on government spending,"

"Now it's an $800 fine,"

"That's why I need, like, a really awesome lawyer, like you. So…can you help me?"

"I mean, I can try. You never know, a judge might buy into this whole thing, so…"

Jess furrowed her brows. That was the official second jab during their whole conversation. She couldn't let this one go. "What 'whole thing'?"

"Your whole thing. With the cupcakes, and the braking for birds, and…bluebirds come and help me dress in the morning,"

"Oh, I didn't know I was doing a thing," Jess said, trying to keep frustration out of her voice.

"It's a great thing," Julia amended. "I mean, the big beautiful eyes, like a scared baby. I'm sure that gets you out of all kinds of stuff,"

"Yeah. Yeah, except my peripheral vision's, like, almost too good,"

There was an awkward laugh. Julia looked down, about to ask something, but Huxley yelled from the bathroom.

"I need a towel!"

"Oh, I should take care of that. He'll literally just stand there until he air dries if I don't bring him a towel," Jess said, standing up.

"No, don't worry. Um, I'm pretty sure Nick is home. So I'll just head over there. Here's your blankie back," Julia said, tossing the blanket onto the couch and leaving with the papers.

Jess took a deep breath, staring at the closed door. Julia did not like her. And she made it clear.

"Mom! I need a towel!"

* * *

_"What the hell is that supposed to mean? The only reason you'd be called into court was for a custody battle?!"_

"Huxley, don't pick out the blueberries!" Jess yelled at Huxley from the kitchen. She went back to packing his lunch and talking with Cece on speaker. "I know! I mean, why is that the first thought that pops up? Have I ever mentioned the father to anyone? No, which makes it totally uncalled for for her to bring it up like that," Jess hissed, not wanting Huxley to hear.

The door opened and Nick came in. Huxley waved at him, opting not to speak with his mouth full of oatmeal. "Hey, Jess, how do you get this kind of stain out?" Nick said, walking up to her in the kitchen.

_"Is that Nick? Have you told him yet?"_

Nick frowned, looking at the phone then to Jess. "Cece? Told me what?"

Jess glanced at Huxley, then back to Nick. "Julia has a problem with me, Nick. Okay, she doesn't like me,"

"What are you talking about? She's helping you get out of a ticket,"

_"Tell him everything, Jess!"_  Cece pushed.

"Your girlfriend's not a dessert person," Jess enunciated.

_"Nick, where is this bitch? Gonna smack that lawyer learning right out of her mouth,"_

"Okay, I think you two are making this into something excessive. Julia is helping you, Jess,"

_"By being condescending and judgmental?"_

"What did she say?" Nick asked, hoping for some kind of clarification.

"That's not the point, Nick. What matters is that she isn't a dessert person and now we're fighting,"

"But that doesn't even make sense!"

_"You want to know what she said? Why don't you ask her? Ask her about all how she's prying into who Jess' baby daddy is!"_

Jess rolled her eyes. "Cece, you know I hate it when you talk about him like that,"

"Wait, she's asking about Huxley's biological father?" Nick asked, his voice lowering.

_"Yes and it's none of her damn business! Didn't you tell her it was only for a traffic ticket?"_

"Well, I-"

"Okay, I'm going to be late for work. Huxley, let's move!" Jess took the phone off of speaker and pressed her phone against her ear as she walked out with Huxley. She waved at Nick before leaving her apartment.

Nick frowned, looking at the closed door, to the empty apartment, to the shirt in his hands. He scratched at the old mustard stain. "Well how am I supposed to get this out now?"

* * *

Nick had come up with an entire file inside his head of why Julia asked Jess about Huxley's father. He had told her Jess needed help with a traffic ticket. Right? But there was a strong possibility that he only mentioned Jess had a court date.

This is probably the reason why Schmidt started setting vitamins out for him. When he got home, Nick would be sure to take those vitamins. He'd be good for another year.

Julia walked in the bar and Nick shoved that file under a rock in his head. He waved her over, moving to stand across an empty chair at the bar where she could sit. "Hey, I didn't expect to see you here,"

Julia smiled at him, adjusting her pencil skirt as she sat on the stool. "Well, I thought I'd just drop by,"

Nick smiled back at her, trying not to think about his conversation with Jess earlier. "So Jess told me what you asked her yesterday," As soon as it was out of his mouth, Nick could've punched himself in the throat. But it was too late to take it back so might as well see where the conversation led.

"What?"

"That if her court date was about Huxley's father,"

Julia rolled her eyes. "I was just asking,"

"I didn't tell you it was about a traffic ticket?"

Julia pursed her lips, but didn't answer.

Nick narrowed his eyes. "Okay, I might not remember even having that conversation with you, but since you're not answering me, I'm guessing I did say it was just a traffic ticket,"

"Okay, so I did ask her that. But I saw the opportunity for the information I wanted, so I took it,"

"Why are you so curious about him? I mean, why couldn't you have asked me?"

"Do you know anything about Huxley's dad then?"

Nick rolled his head. "…no,"

"I was asking for you,"

"I have  _never_  asked you to ask her something like that,"

"No, but I did it for your own good,"

"What?"

"Nick, you're attached to Huxley. Whether you want to admit it or not. And he's really attached to you,"

"Oh come on. We're just neighbors who I happen to watch sometimes,"

"You almost bought him flowers that week he refused to speak to you,"

"Well how else was I supposed to get him to talk to me?!"

"Have you thought about what you're going to do when his father comes back into the picture? And I say 'when' not 'if.' Because a girl like Jess doesn't let some guy father her child without him being some part of her extravagant plan,"

Nick gripped the bar. He shouldn't have brought this up…

"Nick, you aren't his father. And I'd really hate to see you get hurt when the  _real_  father comes into the picture. You and Huxley both,"

Nick crossed his arms. He didn't like the way Julia said  _real_  father. What was she trying to imply?

Julia's phone rang. She glanced at it and groaned. "I'm sorry, Nick. I have to take this. We can finish talking about this later,"

Nick nodded, watching as she walked out with the phone pressed to her ear.

* * *

Jess was exhausted. Emotionally and physically. She couldn't stop thinking about everything Julia said and what if Huxley's father did come back one day? What would she tell him? Jess was almost certain she did not want him to be a part of Huxley's life. It had been a mistake that just so happened to create the wonderful human, Huxley.

And it was sex ed today and she had to peel condoms off of over a hundred cucumbers.

It was nearly midnight, but Jess still wasn't asleep. Instead, she was standing right outside 4D holding Nick's stain-free shirt. The goal: drop off without any of the guys seeing her. She was too tired for any kind of conversation right now.

She opened the door with her key, walked in, and set the shirt down on the table right by the door. Perfect. She could leave without-

"Jess? What are you doing here?"

Jess turned around to see Nick coming out of the kitchen. "Oh, hey, I was just dropping off your shirt. Got that stain out for you,"

Nick grabbed the shirt, not even bothering to inspect it. "I didn't think you'd do it so soon,"

Jess shrugged. "Mustard stains aren't hard. Now when you get to blood," she chuckled a little. "That's when things get tricky,"

Nick frowned. Of course she knew how to deal with blood stains. "Hey, so, I, um…I talked with Julia,"

Oh, and this is why she should've just left the shirt outside. "Why, Nick? This is between me and her,"

"Yeah, well, I stuck myself in the middle. Kind of regret it actually, but here we are," he crossed his arms and looked down at his feet for a moment. "Do you think Huxley's biological father will ever come back into the picture,"

Jess shook her head, thinking she was too tired to have a conversation like this right now. "He was never really in the picture to begin with actually," she lowered her head. She hated talking about this and dreaded the day when Huxley would finally ask. "I never told him. He was definitely more than just drunk when I met him and he probably doesn't even remember me. I never got his number either. I gave him mine, but he never called, so…here we are,"

"Well, remember you or not, he was an asshole to never call you back,"

Jess smiled. "Thanks, Nick."

He smiled back, lightly touching her arm for a moment. He quickly took a step back, not looking her in the eye anymore and clearing his throat. "All right, get outta here. You look terrible,"

Jess rolled her eyes. "Gee, thanks, Miller. And you're welcome for the shirt,"

Nick grinned, holding up the shirt and waving it in thanks. He didn't close the door until he saw her safely make the sixteen-step trek across the hall and aback to her apartment.

As he walked to his room, he wondered about Bug Eyes. Maybe she had waited for him to call her back. It was over seven years now. Was it too late to call her back?

* * *

It was a split-second decision. One minute, Jess was pulling out her lunch and the next, she was sticking it back in the fridge in favor for a protein bar. It was easier to eat a bar while driving and Julia's office was a ten minute drive from the school.

Jess made it in seven, walked right into the office building and asked around until she was finally pointed to Julia's office. She knocked on the door, peeking in through the window. Julia was on the phone and when she saw Jess, she didn't do a good job at hiding her rolling eyes. But Jess was persistent and she waved.

Julia hung up and opened the door. "Jess, I don't really have time right now to go over the traffic ticket-"

"That's not why I'm here. Um, so Nick said some stuff to you yesterday, didn't he?" Jess tried to keep her hands still and not wring them together like a scared little kid. She would not let Julia's stupid pant suit intimidate her. "I'm really sorry, and I want to explain-"

"Why would you tell him that I asked you that? Do you know what that makes me look like?"

"Um-"

"I see what you're doing. I know that I'm the mean lawyer girl who wears suits and works too much and you, you're the really fun teacher girl with all the colorful skirts and you bake things. And eventually, Nick is gonna come running to you and you'll tuck him under his blankie and-"

"What is it with you and the blankie thing?!" Jess exclaimed, deciding she was done being quiet. "I never said the word blankie. I don't talk like Teddy Ruxpin,"

"If I acted the way that you act here in this office, nobody would listen to me,"

"Well, if I acted like you at work, my students would turn in really weird, dark dioramas, so…"

"I don't like you," Julia said quietly. "And I don't want to be your friend,"

Jess swallowed hard, tears automatically building in her eyes. "Fine,"

Julia pinched the bridge of her nose. "Can you leave, please? I hung up on a very important conversation,"

Jess crossed her arms and clenched her jaw. "No, I'm not leaving. I got something to say to you, man. I brake for birds. I rock a lot of polka dots. I have touched glitter in the last 24 hours. I spend my entire day talking to children and then I go home and still talk with a child. And I find it fundamentally strange that you're not a dessert person. That's just weird and it freaks me out! And I'm sorry I don't talk like Murphy Brown and I hate your pantsuit! I wish it had ribbons on it or something to make it just slightly cuter. And that doesn't mean I'm not smart and tough and strong. Because I found out just how strong I am ever since Huxley was born,"

Jess closed her eyes and took a deep breath after her small rant. She was still not done. "And I know you like Nick and I'm not trying to interfere, but for right now, Nick is a big part of Huxley's life and I know Nick would say the same too. So you just have to be okay with that because, guess what? His father is  _not_  coming back,"

"Are you done?" Julia asked as soon as Jess stopped to take a breath.

"Yes! Now I'm going to go back to work and have my class decorate poster boards of their summer vacation plans with glitter, bitch,"

Jess stormed out of the office, ignoring the curious looks from all the other lawyers.

"Wait, are you the bird defense lady?" one of them called out.

* * *

It was mac and cheese for dinner tonight. Jess had a late day at school again and didn't have a chance to eat something other than her protein bar. And she really didn't want to think through an entire recipe after the day she had. "Huxley, go wash your hands, dinner's ready!"

Jess could hear him complain about it, but she also heard his footsteps and followed by the sink in the bathroom running.

Jess pulled down two bowls and spilt the mac and cheese between the two of them. Huxley came running out of the bathroom and sat down just as Jess was setting the bowls down. She didn't get the chance to sit down though. Someone started knocking at the door.

Her stomach grumbled and Jess quickly put a spoonful of the pasta in her mouth. She pointed at Huxley. "Eat your food, okay?" She opened the door and immediately wished she hadn't. "Julia. Can I help you?"

Julia bit her lip, adjusting the cactus in her hands. "Okay, I just…there was a last minute change to a meeting with a firm in China and I'm leaving tomorrow," she closed her eyes, took a deep breath. "I can't help you with the traffic ticket. I'm sorry,"

Jess tilted her head.

"For prying," Julia said after a huff and a shrug. She glanced behind Jess and saw Huxley eating, seemingly not paying any attention to her. Julia lowered her voice. "I'm sorry for prying and…I've seen enough custody battles to know how ugly they can get and I just…I didn't want Nick getting in the middle of one,"

"Fair enough, but you could probably use a lesson or two on tact,"

Julia gave a half smile. "Well, I need to drop this off at Nick's. And if you ever need any other legal advice, I'd be happy to refer you to someone,"

Jess smiled. She didn't know how long Julia was going to stick around, but they were okay with each other now. Not friends and probably never, but still. This was progress.


	8. Chapter 8

Jess had forbidden Huxley from going to 4D because Nick was acting weird. Ever since Julia dropped off the cactus, Nick was certain it was because their relationship was over. Everyone assured him it was a ridiculous idea, but when Julia showed up back from her trip, she broke things off with Nick. If he hadn't been a drunken mess, Nick would've told everyone 'I told you so!'

Jess waited the appropriate three day grieving period before giving Huxley permission to go back to 4D. And the moment after she said he could go back whenever, he immediately asked her for a permission slip.

"But Huxley, it's monthly deep cleaning day! Don't you want to rock out to my cool jams?" Jess was already pulling out a piece of paper to write the permission slip though.

Huxley was told that if they opened the door for him, he could spend the morning there. But only  _if_  they answered the door. When Huxley knocked on their door though, he remembered Winston telling him and everyone else multiple times how sacred Saturday mornings were. They were meant for sleeping in way past the sun rising.

So when Huxley went up to the door of 4D, he didn't knock. He had grabbed Jess' key, unlocked the door, and made himself comfortable on their couch. It was quiet here, which he much preferred to Jess' monthly deep cleaning day playlist. He dug around the couch, hoping to find the remote, but ended up finding a packet of half eaten fruit snacks.

The remote wasn't all that important. He had fruit snacks now. He laid down on the sofa, enjoying his morning snack.

"Hurry, it's clear!"

Huxley frowned. Why was Schmidt whispering? He sat up to see Cece hurrying out of Schmidt's room. "Aunt Cece?"

Cece dropped the heels in her hands. "Huxley! What are you doing here, babe?" she asked in a whisper, turning to give Schmidt a quick glare.

"Did you have a sleep over with Schmidt?" he asked, ignoring Cece's question.

"Yes, Huxley. We had a beautiful sleep over, but sleep was something we did  _not_ do," Schmidt said with an annoyed look.

"Oh my God, jar Schmidt,"

Another door in the loft opened. Huxley turned to see who it was, but he was suddenly lifted up with a hand covering his mouth.

Everything was moving too fast for Huxley to figure out what was happening until he was finally dropped and facing Cece. "Huxley, I need you to be extra quiet," she whispered.

Huxley frowned. "But why?" he whispered as softly as he could. Which wasn't all that soft.

"Because….we're playing a game! Hide and seek,"

Huxley looked around, realizing he was in Schmidt's room. "But why in here? Mom says I'm not allowed in Schmidt's room,"

"Well, for right now it's okay,"

"But-"

Cece covered his mouth again, pressing her finger to her own mouth. She took her hand away from his mouth slowly. "Quiet, please?"

Huxley made a face, but didn't say anything else.

Cece watched him, waiting for him to say something because knowing Huxley, he wouldn't stay quiet for long. Thankfully, the door opened and Schmidt came in. "Okay, it was just Winston, but I got rid of him," Schmidt looked at Huxley. "Hey, Huxley. My favorite kid on the block. What are you doing here so early?" he asked with a tight smile.

Huxley shrugged. "Mom's cleaning the house and playing her music really loud," Huxley pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and handed it to Schmidt.

Schmidt took it, smoothing it out and seeing the validity of the permission slip. "Okay, Huxley, this whole thing, Cece sleeping over…it's all a secret. You can't tell anyone.  _Especially_  your mother,"

Cece slapped Schmidt's arm. "Don't tell him that!" she hissed.

Huxley had only focused on Schmidt's words. "It's a secret?"

"Yes,"

"No,"

Cece and Schmidt looked at each other again. "You can't tell him it's a secret! He…" Cece groaned. She gave Huxley a sympathetic look. "Huxley's never been good at keeping secrets. He gets weird and sweaty,"

Schmidt's eyes widened. "Oh…" he laughed a bit nervously. "Well, it's not really a secret. No, that was such a poor choice of wording. No, this is not a secret. It's the furthest thing from a secret…but you can't tell your mom. Or anyone else really,"

Huxley narrowed his eyes. "But that means it's a secret then,"

"Oh, we are so screwed," Cece mumbled to herself.

"No, no, I can fix this. I can…" Schmidt snapped his fingers. "I have a plan,"

* * *

Jess looked down at the laundry in front of her. It was half sorted, but she didn't reach into the basket to finish. After the phone call she just had, laundry was the last thing she wanted to do.

It was unbelievable. After so many years and now this happens? And for it to happen on a Saturday with a week left of school. What the hell was she supposed to do  _now_?

Her phone rang and Jess fumbled for it. Maybe it had been a mistake. Some kind of cruel joke or…

Or it was Schmidt.

Jess answered with a small sigh. "Yes, Schmidt?"

_"Jessica! Oh, I am absolutely delighted that you answered your phone,"_

Jess closed her eyes. "What do you need? And I am not in the mood for you asking me to go with you to finish one of your ridiculous errands,"

Schmidt laughed.  _"Oh, that is not at all why I'm calling you. No, I just wanted to let you know that I'm taking Huxley out to the aquarium today,"_

"What? Why?"

_"I just thought it would be a great time for him to-"_

"Schmidt, I hate the aquarium. Haven't you ever seen  _Blackfish_?"

_"Well, that's technically about the parks and this isn't-"_

"No. I don't want him there,"

Schmidt laughed again.  _"It's a bit late for that actually. I already bought his ticket and we're in,"_

"Schmidt! I can't…" Jess took a deep breath. It was Saturday! She didn't need this kind of stress right now. "You know what? Fine. Just…don't use him to pick up girls. It's creepy and I've already talked to you about that,"

_"Yes, yes, I remember each time…but are you okay? You've sounded a little…off this entire conversation,"_

"Yeah, Schmidt I'm fine. Please make sure Huxley eats something with actual nutrition in it,"

_"Jess, please. Who do you think I am? Nick?"_

Jess actually smiled. "All right. Tell him I love him and I'll see him later today,"

She hung up. Well, at least Huxley wasn't coming home for a while. That would give her some time to think about things and figure what the hell her next step would be. Just another change to what was supposed to be her permanent life plan.

"Jess? Wifi's out at our place,"

Jess held back a groan as Winston came in. She wanted to be alone right now. She went into the living room to see Winston had already made himself comfortable on her couch with his laptop open on his lap and two sets of headphones on.

Winston didn't even look up at her. He just gave a little wave as he continued working on the computer.

"What are you doing?"

Winston glanced up. "I need to catch up on everything I missed while in Latvia. Because you know what? Those interviewers don't care if I can open Excel or click through a PowerPoint. They want to laugh about Charlie biting his damn brother!"

"Wait, I thought your temp job was going good?"

Winston laughed. "Yeah, it was good at turning me into an unthinking human for eight hours every day!" He pursed his lips for a moment and took off his headphones. "Okay, I was actually fired. But you know what? I'm going to go out there and get a real job!"

Jess blinked a few times. There were tears building in her eyes. Why did Winston have to come here now to work on his job finding skills?

Winston frowned, noticing the immediate change in Jess' demeanor. "Jess?"

"I got laid off," Jess shrugged, wiping at her eyes before she could actually start crying. "I just found out actually,"

"Aw, Jess…"

"It's possible I'm still in shock. I'm going to go to my room and process what just happened,"

Winston watched her as she walked down the hall and into her room. Nope, he could not deal with crying Jess alone. He needed backup.

* * *

Cece watched Huxley staring down at the penguins. He never liked fish and Cece tried telling this to Schmidt, but he insisted this was the best place to take him. "So what exactly is your plan?" she asked, turning to Schmidt on the bench.

"Oh Cecelia, haven't you caught on? We keep Huxley distracted enough until he forgets about what happened this morning. Kids his age forget things if they're around fun and exciting things,"

Cece shook her head, turning to watch Huxley again. "Not Huxley. He will remember this and he will not keep it a secret,"

Schmidt pursed his lips in thought, speaking after a few moments. "Okay, then what if we just come clean to Jess?"

Cece laughed. "No. That is not happening,"

Schmidt threw his hands in the air. "Why? Didn't I make it clear that I wouldn't parade you around like the trophy you are. I mean have you even noticed how well I've been restraining myself this entire time! Not once have I publicly announced that we are making sweet, sweet love,"

"Yeah, and I'm glad you haven't because this is a place filled with families and little kids and we could get kicked out if you did!" Cece hissed.

"Which is exactly why we should just tell Jess,"

Cece had more protests lined up, but her phone started ringing. "Oh, it's Jess. I have to take this," she got up and walked away from Schmidt, still keeping Huxley in her line of sight. "Hey babe, what's going on?"

_"I was let go,"_

Cece gasped. "What? Are you serious?"

_"Yeah. Tanya called me and told me. She said she was going to wait until Monday, but she's going on a last-minute trip to Cancun. I still have to finish out this last week. I get to pick out something from the lost and found though,"_

"Oh, Jess, I'm so sorry. I am going over there right now with some wine and Chinese,"

_"No, Cece, wait. I…I need to figure out what to do next and I don't want Huxley around. Schmidt took him to the aquarium and who knows how long Schmidt will be able to handle him. So can you meet up with them and just…keep Huxley out of the apartment for today?"_

If Jess hadn't finished telling her she was fired, Cece would've laughed. As it was, she just took a deep breath, unable to believe they were going with Schmidt's plan because of Jess. "Yeah, I'll be sure and keep him entertained,"

* * *

"Ah, this is not good. She's probably in her room crying," Nick said once Winston explained the situation to him.

Winston nodded. "I hate it when she cries,"

Nick looked down the hallway to Jess' room. "Okay, we gotta fix this right now," he stood up and started walking down the hall. "Let's go. We gotta do something,"

Winston followed without question. But once at Jess' door, neither of them knew what they would actually do.

"You're getting your resume ready, right? Why don't you just work on hers too?" Nick said.

Winston shook his head. "No, I'm catching up on all the culture references,"

"But it's basically the same thing. Just put culture references into her resume,"

"Nick, you haven't gone on a job interview in like six years. I'm not even sure you had an interview when you started working at the bar,"

"Oh so are you trying to say you know more than me about resumes?"

"Yes!"

The door opened while they argued, Jess staring at them with exasperation. "Okay, here's how this is going to go,"

Winston and Nick immediately stopped and plastered smiles on their faces.

"You will not pity me. No pity eyes. Make sure Schmidt doesn't look at me like I'm a fat kid riding a bike when he finds out. It's just a job. I'll get a new one,"

"You're going to get so many jobs, Jess. I promise," Nick said, nodding slowly as if trying to convince her to believe him.

"So I just want you to go about your day and act normal. Okay?" she sighed, dropping her hands as she watched Nick blink his eyes rapidly. "What's wrong with your eyes, Nick?"

He shrugged in response.

Jess wanted to shake them both and make them stop their pity looks. And Nick continued with his awkward blinking. "Stop blinking. Why are you doing that?"

"I just think they fired the wrong girl, kid,"

But he would not stop the blinking and she hated him for it, but a little part of her kept repeating that he was just trying to be a good friend. The two of them. "Stop Nick. What's wrong with you? Act normal, okay?'

"If that's what you want," Nick said with a smile.

"That is what I want,"

"That's what you'll get,"

Jess gave them one last exasperated look before closing the door in their faces.

Nick turned to Winston. "I think that went well,"

* * *

Winston and Nick took it upon themselves to start job searching for Jess while she continued processing the fact that she was laid off. Nick helped for about five minutes before exclaiming that he did not believe the job postings online and left to pick up a newspaper and look through the classifieds.

When he came back, Winston already had few job listings bookmarked for Jess and was now back to his research on current media. Nick didn't find any listings for a teacher. There was a dog walker. Someone wanted a "young-ish" woman to sit with an "old-ish" man. And there were multiple ads for a delivery driver. Nick circled all the delivery ads and the dog walker. Huxley only had one week of school left and he had the potential of being a great dog walker for the summer.

Nick felt accomplished with himself, so he opened a beer and sat on her couch next to Winston, turning the TV on to mindlessly watch ESPN.

Winston ignored the TV as he focused on his own work. He couldn't believe how much he had actually missed while in Latvia. Before he could go into information overload, Winston changed his focus. Summer vacation was practically here and Winston figured Jess would have a hard time finding an immediate teaching position. So he worked on finding out different ways for her to get income. Specifically, finding the man who owed her seven years worth of child support.

Yes, Cece told him this was between the two of them since Jess didn't know he knew the name of Huxley's father. But at least he would not be under suspicion when the checks started coming in once he found this Julius Pepperwood.

If the search engine showed anything for this man!

"Hey, Winston, where you at now?"

"Hmm?" Winston didn't even glance up from the computer, but at least attempted to listen to Nick.

"Where are you?"

"Oh, I'm done. I am a master of current media and culture. Quiz me, see how much I know,"

Nick made a face. He honestly never kept up with the latest hip internet trends. "No. I don't care,"

Winston shrugged his shoulders and went back to the computer.

Nick rolled his eyes as Winston still did not give him an answer. "So what are you doing now?"

"Trying to locate a Julius Pepperwood,"

Nick frowned. "Where'd you hear that name?"

Winston winced, as if realizing what he just said. He finally looked at Nick and gave a sheepish shrug. This was bad. If Nick found out this was about Huxley's father, Nick would never drop it. "Well I mean…you know…I just heard the name from somewhere…thought it was interesting…"

Nick gave Winston an odd look. "Well, tell me if you find anything, because I was going to use that name for a detective in one of my books,"

It was Winston's turn to give Nick an odd look. "What did you say?"

Nick shrugged, already turning the majority of his attention to the TV. "I just thought it was a cool name. Came up with it about seven, eight years ago,"

Questions, theories, and conspiracies started flowing through Winston's mind at an alarming rate. Before he could actually capture one of those thoughts, the front door opened.

"Schmidt, Cece, Huxley! You're back!" Winston exclaimed as he shut his laptop. "How were your adventures in San Diego?"

Huxley was smiling when he came in. But as soon as he looked at Winston and Nick, his eyes widened and the smile fell from his face. He looked up at Schmidt and Cece and shook his head.

"No, Huxley baby, you can do this. I know you can do it," Cece encouraged, setting the food and wine down to bend down in front of Huxley.

"Wait, what's going on? Is something wrong with him?" Nick tilted his head as he realized just how big Huxley's eyes were. Yeah, he had Jess' eyes, but he looked like someone else too. He titled his head even further as trying to remember…oh, why couldn't he put a name to the blurry face in his mind?

Schmidt scoffed, waving his hand in Nick's direction, breaking his concentration. "Oh, no, he's perfectly fine. He just can't believe what a fun day he had and-"

"Cece had a sleep over with Schmidt!" Huxley exclaimed, immediately covering his mouth once the words were out of his mouth. But then he seemed to relaxed and dropped his hands. "I'm hungry," he said, grabbing the bag of food Cece had dropped and carrying it to the dining table.

Cece closed her eyes, refusing to look at any of the men in front of her.

Schmidt just shook his head, placing his hands on his hips. He looked to the shocked and/or horrified expressions of Nick and Winston. He pointed directly at Nick. "Sweatback, you need to leave.  _Now_ ," Schmidt looked over at Huxley, who had pulled out an egg roll and was nibbling on it. "Take Sweatback Jr too,"

Nick motioned for Huxley to follow him. He hopped off the dining seat and walked towards Nick, egg roll in hand.

"Oh, hey guys. I didn't hear you come in,"

Jess came out of her room. Schmidt shot everyone a quick glance, hoping everyone would just act natural.

"Brought you some food and wine," Cece said, moving towards her and pulling her into a quick hug. She spun Jess around so she could face Nick and Huxley, mouthing at them that they needed to leave.

Jess moved away from the hug though before Nick could open the front door. "Wait, Hux Bug, where are you going now? I feel like I haven't even seen you all day,"

Nick grabbed the egg roll and stuffed half of it in Huxley's mouth. "Aw, kid has his mouth full. It's not really polite to talk with your mouth full of food. You know, stuff just drops out and you make a huge mess and then you gotta pick it up and…" Nick placed his hands on his hips as he trailed off into a small nervous laugh.

Jess narrowed her eyes. "Huxley turn around,"

"What, why do you want him to turn around?" Nick said, grabbing Huxley shoulders and holding him still.

"Really, Jess, they're wasting precious daylight right now," Schmidt said, opening the door and trying to usher them out.

"They have a secret. Both of them," Jess walked towards them. "Turn around Nick!"

"No, you turn around,"

But Jess had grabbed Nick and forced him to turn until she saw his back, the sweat dripping through his shirt. "What is it?" she asked, staring him down.

Schmidt and Cece were protesting, trying to get Nick and Huxley out of the apartment. But Jess held Nick frozen in place with her steely gaze.

" _J'accuse_ , Miller,  _j'accuse_. You fold like a lawn chair," Jess pressed. Huxley was still trying to swallow the egg roll that had been stuffed in his mouth, standing in between Jess and Nick.

Jess knew she could get whatever it was out of Nick. She moved until she was inches away from Nick's face. "Fold, Fold," She repeated, knowing he was about to break.

"Huxley told me Cece and Schmidt are sleeping together!"

"What?!"

Schmidt had slowly backed away at this point to stand next to Cece. "Jess, I am so sorry that you had to hear about this like this. But, I mean, can we just take a moment to celebrate me? Schmidtty really did it this time. I mean, I'm having Indian every night,"

A collective groan rolled through the apartment. "There's a child in here," Winston grumbled.

Jess pushed her glasses up as she rubbed her face with a groan. "No, no!" she pulled her hands away from her face and looked at Cece and Schmidt with betrayal written on her face. "Why? Why today of all days?"

"Jess, I know it's a lot to take in, especially since you just lost your job-"

Jess shook her head. "No, we are going to discuss this because Cece is my best friend and  _Schmidt_?! Why him?!"

"Um, so I think it'd still be a good idea if I take Huxley out…" Nick said, inching towards the open door.

Winston shot up and followed after them. "Yeah, I agree with Nick. Call us when you're done,"


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the longer than normal wait on this chapter! This chapter was being a struggle, but I've got it down and I'm super excited for the next chapter. I'm sure you'll understand once you finish reading this chapter ;)

A lot of things seemed to be happening at once. Cece was sleeping with Schmidt. Jess lost her job. Winston could quote _Jersey Shore_ at the drop of a hat. But none of that was actually the thing Winston was thinking about. Nope, his thoughts were swirling around Julius Pepperwood and how in the hell did Nick come up with that name and surely that had to mean _something_?

Winston snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Huxley let out a piercing scream. He straightened in the park bench, ready to run, but Nick was right there. Huxley had decided to jump off the swing while mid-air, but Nick caught him.

Winston relaxed, watching as Nick dug into Huxley's stomach while he squirmed in Nick's arms and giggled. Even from the bench, Winston could see the hint of panic in Nick's eyes after Huxley had jumped from the swing. But it was disappearing as he set Huxley back on the swing.

They brought Huxley to the park while Jess talked with Cece and Schmidt. They were supposed to be watching Huxley together, but while Winston was lost in his thoughts, Nick had gotten up from the bench and went to the swings. Which was great because Huxley probably would've jumped from the swings either way and how would they explain a broken arm to Jess?

Nick was standing behind Huxley now, pushing him while Huxley kicked his legs out to swing higher. Every so often, Huxley would lean his head back to make a face at Nick who would either mimicking or laugh at him.

Winston watched with furrowed brows. There was something he was missing here. There had to be!

Nick stepped back once Huxley was swinging high on his own. He sat back down on the bench next to Winston. "Did you see what he just did? I swear, he almost gave me a heart attack!"

Winston glanced at him, really not wanting to talk about what just happened. He could tell it would set Nick off on a rant and he had some questions he wanted answered before that could happen. He waited a few moments for Nick to calm down before moving forward with his interrogation.

"So, how many books are you planning on writing, Nick?"

Nick shrugged, leaning back on the bench and keeping his eyes on Huxley. "Well, there's my zombie novel and who knows how many books I can squeeze out of that one. Oh and of course the Pepperwood Chronicles, but that's going to be just one book,"

Winston's next question wanted to be why would he call it a 'Chronicles' if there was only going to be one book. But that question wouldn't get him anywhere. "Pepperwood. You know, that's such an interesting name. How'd you come up with that?"

A pleased smile crossed Nick's face. "A stroke of genius, isn't it?"

Winston nodded, encouraging this conversation even more. "Yeah, I mean, it's so good. Have you ever used it? I mean, Julius Pepperwood. That sounds like the name of a really great guy. Much better than Nick Miller,"

Nick finally looked at Winston. "Yeah, it's better than your name too,"

Winston took a deep breath. Going by Nick's squinting eyes and the sudden tension in his shoulders, Nick was no longer liking this conversation. He had to proceed carefully. "Well, yeah, it's like a perfect name. So perfect, you would just _have_ to use it to pick up ladies, right?"

Nick turned away, crossed his arms and shook his head. And just by that movement, Winston knew he lost his chance. "No, I don't like this,"

"Like what?"

"You! You're trying to get information out of me about Julius Pepperwood!"

Winston quickly shook his head. "No, I mean that's not-"

"You are trying to use him for your own selfish reasons! No way, dude. I am never talking to you about him again and don't even try and get me drunk to get answers out of me. Drunk me will know and sober me is not responsible for whatever drunk me might do to you!"

Winston held up his hands. "Okay, okay, we don't have to talk about it anymore. But I was not trying to steal your idea. What makes you think I even want to write a book?"

"I don't know, why are you suddenly interested in Julius Pepperwood? Where did you hear that name from?"

Winston pursed his lips. Nick didn't want to give him any information, so Winston wasn't going to give him any information either. Besides, he Cece would kill him. "Do you think pepper grows on trees? I mean, why else would the name Pepperwood exist?"

And that question was enough to segue Nick into a completely unrelated conversation about what constituted as spice and what didn't.

* * *

 

Nick stood in the doorway of the empty room with crossed arms and a pensive look. Well, it wasn't exactly empty. After their failed attempt at finding a new roommate, they all decided the room would become the unofficial storage room.

But an idea was developing in Nick´s head. It was a great idea, but there were some logistics he needed to figure out and make sure everyone was okay with it. Especially Jess. And after the day she had, Nick wanted to help with at least one of the problems.

When he and Winston brought Huxley back to her apartment, things had cooled significantly. It had cooled so much that when they were coming in, Schmidt and Cece were leaving together on what one could only assume was an official date.

Depending who you asked of course.

But Winston began sputtering and insisted he had something important to discuss with Cece. This earned curious looks from everyone, causing Winston to sputter even more before throwing his hands up in defeat and declaring he was going to his room.

That left Jess and Nick alone in the hall.

Nick wanted to linger in the hallway with her, make sure she was okay, maybe even dance to make her smile. But he could see the exhaustion in her eyes and the best thing he could do was let her rest and sleep off the events of the day.

Except he had to do something. Which lead him to formulating plans and now standing in front of the storage/extra room.

It was a great plan and Nick was honestly pleased with himself. He just needed to figure out how to make everyone else believe it was a great plan too.

* * *

 

Jess couldn't describe her thankfulness when the next day a _How It's Made_ marathon was on. Huxley stayed glued to the TV and didn't bother Jess at all, allowing her time to talk through ideas with the person she trusted the most, aside from Cece.

_"You were too good for that school anyways. I always saw you teaching at one of those montessori schools. You know, with the free thinking students and hands on learning,"_

"Ugh, I know Mom. That's still the plan for the future. But right now, I need something to get me through the real job searching," Jess said as she looked over her resume and updated different areas.

_"You know, there's a lot of good schools here in Portland…some looking for a principal even…"_

"Mom, I'm not moving. Huxley's settled really well and he's got some great friends down the hall-"

_"But does he have friends his age?"_

Jess rolled her eyes, glad she had her mom on the phone instead of over the webcam. "Look, at this point I'm just glad he has friends. Huxley isn't the most social of kids, remember?"

Joan laughed. _"It's just incredible. Complete opposite of you, honey. Oh, my precious Hux Bug…where is he? Let me talk with him. Oh, I bet he's so big!"_

And when Joan began gushing about Huxley, Jess grinned, ignoring the rest of her resume for the moment. "He's entertained right now and I don't want to bother him because knowing him he'll either start bothering me or decided he's going to bother the guys," she got up and poked her head out, catching a glimpse of the top of his head.

_"Look, even if you don't want to move up to Portland, why don't you come up anyways. At least for a little visit?"_

Jess went back in her room and paced a little as she took her mom off speaker. "I don't know, Mom. I really need to work on finding a job right now,"

_"Jessica, a little visit isn't going to kill you. Turn in some applications and once you do, come up for a visit. I'm not asking you to stay a whole month. Just for a few days while you set up interviews and whatnot,"_

Jess pursed her lips. Maybe a quick trip could clear her head while she worked on setting up interviews. "Okay, but only for a few days, Mom!"

Joan squealed on the other end. _"Oh, yay! I'm going to start planning each day to make sure Huxley sees everything there is to see,"_

Jess smiled. "Okay, Mom, but remember, it's only a few days! Don't overwhelm the poor kid. You know how he can get sometimes,"

_"I know. He just looks so cute when he makes his little grumpy face,"_

Jess shook her head. "Yeah, well his grumpy face has gotten worse actually. He's mimicking Nick and now he looks like a turtle whenever he's grumpy,"

_"But honey, he always looked like a turtle when he was grumpy,"_

Jess blinked. "No. He didn't,"

"I have some pictures of him with his little turtle face and I copied a picture of an actual turtle next to him. It's so funny actually. I'll send them to you,"

Before Jess could protest, Joan hung up. Jess sighed, throwing her phone on the bed and going back to her computer. She wasn't sure she wanted to process what Joan said about Huxley always making the turtle face, because that meant he was making a face just like Nick's before even meeting Nick...

Instead, she searched for flights from Los Angeles to Portland.

She was going to have to ask the guys to take care of the apartment while she was away. Just to make sure her plants didn't die and nobody robbed her.

While looking for flights, her eyes flicked up to see an ad for Air BnB. Jess tilted her head in thought. She was only going to be gone for a few days, but what if she went ahead and started making money while gone?

* * *

 

Winston could not stop thinking about Julius Pepperwood and how did Nick even know his name and why, damnit, could he not get one moment alone with Cece?! A whole day had passed since he talked with Nick about Pepperwood and he was going to burst if he didn't talk to Cece.

But finally, Cece came back from whatever outing she was on with Schmidt and Winston cornered her as soon as she walked in.

"I need to talk to you," Winston said, glancing at Schmidt and hoping he couldn't hear them from the kitchen.

"Why?" Cece asked, already taking a step backwards.

Winston rolled his eyes, taking a step forwards. "I've got some news about…JP,"

Cece frowned for half a second, then her eyes widened. " _What?_ "

Winston nodded. "Mhmm, you have missed a lot girl,"

Cece glanced at Schmidt, "Well what is it? And why were you even snooping?"

Winston shook his head. "Not here," he motioned for Cece to follow him.

They didn't even make it to the hallway before running into Nick.

"Oh perfect. Schmidt's back. I'm calling a loft meeting!" Nick announced, loud enough for Schmidt to hear from the kitchen.

"Okay, but first I need to talk to Cece-"

Nick shook his head. "Nope. This is more important. Cece, I'm sure you've had your fill of Schmidt today,"

Schmidt chuckled from the kitchen. "And she went back for seconds and thirds even!"

Everyone gave a collective groan.

"I need to go actually. Jess wanted to talk with me about something," Cece gave a quick wave to them, shooting Winston an extra look of apology before leaving.

Winston let his head fall back. He was never going to get the chance to talk with her, was he?

"Okay, guys, I have an idea," Nick said once Schmidt and Winston were sitting on the couch.

"Is this a bar related thing? Because really Nick, you should let your friends have more drinks _during_ business hours," Schmidt said.

"What? No, that has nothing to do with this," Not even five minutes in to the loft meeting and he was losing their attention. "Okay, so we never got that fourth roommate like we were planning to. But what if we did? And maybe added another roommate to that,"

Nick had mumbled the last part of his plan, earning confused looks from Schmidt and Winston. "So you want us to clear out our junk from that room for this roommate and what else?" Winston asked, leaning forward.

Nick rubbed his hands together, knowing he was going to have to give them all the details on this one before they agreed to it. "Okay, so Jess has an entire apartment she's renting and doesn't have a salary anymore to pay for it. So, she moves in with us and has to pay only a fourth of what she's paying right now,"

It took nearly a whole minute for him to get a reaction. And it was from Schmidt first.

"So what you're suggesting, is Jess. Our neighbor. Jessica Day. Move in. With us. Us,"

Nick frowned at the way he enunciated every word. "Yeah, basically,"

"And what is she going to do with Huxley?" he continued. Winston hadn't responded yet, leaning back as he processed.

Nick shrugged. "He moves in too. The kid is tiny. They can share a bed,"

"Have you talked with Jess about this?" Winston finally asked.

"Look, I was trying to be the good roommate and actually talk to you guys first before giving Jess this option,"

"Well it's a terrible idea! You want a seven year old living here?!" Schmidt finally burst. "I mean, yeah, he's a great kid and if I didn't have daddy issues like everyone here, maybe I would even go as far as to say I like him. But having him live here is asking a cock blocker to move in and I will not give up what I have with Cece!"

"Consider this. Jess moves in and Cece comes around more," Nick pointed out.

Schmidt crossed his arms, mulling over Nick's words for a few moments. Nick held his breath, knowing he was close to getting a yes from Schmidt...

"Nope. I still think it's a terrible idea," Schmidt said with a shake of his head.

"Sorry, Nick, but I gotta agree with Schmidt on this one. You know, maybe if it was just Jess, then okay. Who knows? Maybe she would've been our fourth roommate all along. But she has Huxley and do you realize what we would have to change if he lived here?"

Nick crossed his arms. He knew it was a long shot. And they had a valid point. Would he want to bring in his overnight guests when Huxley was feet away? Would he even want to do that with Jess a few feet away?

Nick shook his head, wondering why that thought came up. "Okay, whatever. So it was a bad idea. I was just…I want to help her,"

Schmidt stood up and clapped Nick on the shoulder. "We know. Your heart is in the right place, but your ideas suck. Like they're just completely awful. You should never help someone without consulting us first. I mean, who knows what kind of disaster you'd cause,"

Nick placed his own hand on Schmidt's shoulder and gave it a pat. "Jar, Schmidt,"

* * *

 

Cece walked in the apartment. It was quiet and Cece glanced at the time. Yup, it was Huxley's bedtime. She made herself comfortable on the couch, knowing Jess had a whole routine for tucking in Huxley and he would not sleep until they went through the entire routine.

She scrolled through her newsfeed on her phone, not really paying any attention to the status updates of pictures. Instead, she wondered what Winston had found out. She was a little pissed that he went digging around, but not enough to not make her curious.

Cece could clearly remember the night Jess had met Julius. Jess was so drunk when she finally stumbled out of the supply closet of the bar. He was a detective working on a top secret investigation. And Jess seemed to have become completely infatuated with him and kept going on and on about his amazing mustache. Cece only managed to catch the back of his head as he stumbled out of the bar.

Of course, Jess' hangover the following morning dimmed her memories greatly.

But if Jess ever saw him again, would she even remember him?

"Okay, Huxley is finally asleep. God, he can be so picky at night," Jess plopped down next to Cece, interrupting her thoughts.

Cece smirked. "You're the one that made him that way actually. Always singing that song for him and tucking him in the way you do,"

Jess rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Whatever. We're not here to talk about Huxley's nightly routine. I need your opinion," Jess grabbed one of the throw blankets and played with the fringe. "So…I need some extra cash like yesterday. I've already sent in my resume to about ten different schools, so I'm hoping for a call this week. But in the meantime, I need something now to pay rent. I was talking with my mom and she said we should just go up to Portland and stay there,"

Cece made a face. "Oh, that's a bad idea. I love your mom, but…yeah, that's just a terrible idea,"

"Right? So I'm still going to Portland for a few days, just so she can see Huxley and thought, maybe I'll put up the apartment with Air BnB while I'm gone. Which then lead me to start thinking, what if I did it during my whole job searching?"

Cece squinted her eyes, trying to follow Jess' train of though. "So, you're going to essentially rent out your apartment until you get a job,"

Jess nodded. "It's a great idea, right? That way, I don't have to think about rent, because it's covered by the Air BnB guests!"

"Okay, but where are you and Huxley staying if you're only going to be in Portland for a few days?'

Jess deflated a little, focusing back on the throw blanket. "That's where I'm kind of stuck. Huxley could maybe spend the whole summer with my mom. I'm sure she would love it since she was trying to get me to stay anyways. Ugh, but that's a whole summer away from my baby…he's going to grow seven inches while I'm gone!"

"Jess, puberty is still along way off for him. But I think you might be on to something. The only problem is that you need to find a place to live,"

Jess nodded. "Preferably close and cheap with minimal commitment,"

Cece titled her head in thought. She remembered there was an empty room in 4C. The only reason she knew about it was because Schmidt was insistent on having sex in every room in the loft. Once again, she couldn't believe she was actually sleeping with Schmidt.

But that wasn't her focus right now. Her focus was Jess and the possibility of her rooming with the guys. "You know the guys have an extra room. It's the room right across from Nick's actually,"

Jess frowned. "How do you know that?"

Cece shook her head. "You don't need to know. But if this is just for the summer, why don't you ask them?"

"I can't ask them if I can move in!" Jess exclaimed.

"Why not? You want close and cheap with minimal commitment. Their place checks off all your boxes,"

Jess scoffed. "No. No. _No_. I am not moving in across from Nick,"

Cece raised an eyebrow as Jess' own eyes widened. "But if it was across from Schmidt or Winston, you would do it?"

"No, I'm not-that's not….what?"

Cece smirked as Jess struggled with her words. "You are twisting my words, Cece," Jess pressed her fingers to her temple, "I'm not going to do it because I'm not going to ask them. If they ask me, then that would be a different story. And don't you dare mention anything to Schmidt because they gossip more than we do and just…no. Besides, I doubt Nick would want me right across the hallway from him,"

* * *

 

It was an emotional week for Jess. It was full of goodbyes and 'last time ever's'. She turned in at least twenty different job applications and heard back from none of them. Out of a fit of desperation, she sent one in to a fastfood place. The Casserole Shanty. At least they had pretty cool hats.

Joan of course was thrilled Huxley would be spending the summer in Portland. Huxley, not so much.

"But why?" Huxley asked, instead of jumping with joy that Jess had hoped for.

"Because, Hux Bug. Nana misses you and she wants to see you,"

"But I thought we were only going for a few days?"

"Well, that was the original plan. But things change. I'll be there for a few days and then you get to spend the whole summer with Nana,"

Huxley frowned, with his turtle face. Jess paused, remembering Joan's comment about him always making that turtle face. No, she would think about that later. "Aren't you excited?"

Huxley shrugged.

"Oh, baby, I'm going to miss you too,"

But Jess had mistaken the reason for his disappointment. "It's cause Nick said he was going to take me to see my first Cubs game this summer," Huxley mumbled.

Jess let out heavy breath. She hadn't even told any of the guys about her plan. She was so busy trying to find a job, a temporary place to live, get the apartment ready for the Air BnB, and make sure Huxley would have everything he needed to stay an entire summer in Portland. The last time she saw them for more than five minutes was Saturday.

"I'm sure there will be plenty of other Cubs games you can go to when you come back. They aren't going anywhere and neither is Nick," Jess pressed a kiss to his forehead.

But speaking of Nick, she really needed to tell him Huxley was leaving for the whole summer in a few days. Once he was settled in bed for the night, Jess made her way to 4C. She thanked her lucky stars when she walked in. All three guys were sitting on the couch watching a movie.

"Oh, what are you watching?"

"Nothing you'd want to see," Schmidt said, grabbing the remote and turning up the volume.

"So, I'm glad you all are here because I have a little announcement," Jess said, speaking over the TV as she sat down.

Winston took the remote from Schmidt and paused the movie. He looked at her, then to Nick, then back to her. "Jess, we are here for you and all of us will accept whatever it is that you have to tell us,"

That earned him weird looks from everyone. Jess rolled her eyes. Winston had been acting especially weird lately for some reason. But she moved on from those thoughts. "We are moving,"

" _What?!_ What do you mean you're moving?!" Nick exclaimed before Jess could even finish what she was saying.

"Hang on, you don't need to freak out! It's just going to be for the summer. Huxley's going up to Portland to stay with my mom and I'm…" Jess shrugged. "Kind of figuring it out…" she mumbled.

"Wait, are you going to become homeless? What are you even doing with your apartment then?" Schmidt asked.

"I'm putting it up on Air BnB. You know, get some extra cash while job searching,"

Schmidt threw up his hands and began pacing. "So you are going to be homeless! What was the plan? Sleep with Outside Dave for warmth?!"

"Wait, wait, wait, Schmidt, this is perfect!" Nick said, interrupting him before he could rant. "We were just talking about something like this earlier. We have an extra room you can stay in. And now that Huxley's going to Portland for the summer, it'll just be you,"

"And we don't have to change the loft rating to 'PG,'" Winston added.

Jess sighed. "Did Cece tell Schmidt something? Is that where this is coming from?"

"Oh, no, this was all Nicholas' idea," Schmidt said, with a fond smile. "I knew that head of yours had to be filled with fantastic ideas,"

Nick screwed up his face and glared at Schmidt. "But you said-"

Jess interrupted. "Wait, are you guys being serious? I can move in?" she moved her gaze directly to Nick. "It wouldn't bother you?"

Nick shook his head with a frown. "No, why would it?"

Jess pursed her lips, her mind putting pieces together for a picture she had never seen before.

"So when are you expecting to move in?" Winston asked, pulling Jess out of her thoughts.

"Two weeks. We're flying to Portland this Sunday-"

"Wait, so soon?" Nick asked. "But that means I can't take Huxley to the Cubs game,"

Jess gave him a sympathetic smile, ignoring the way her stomach flipped. "Hey, it's not permanent. He's going to be back for school and you know what? If I can finish packing and getting everything ready, we can all spend Saturday together and give Huxley a great send off,"

"I will only go if Cece's going," Schmidt crossed his arms.

Jess rolled her eyes. "Well, good luck with that because she's got a gig up in New York this weekend,"

Winston let out very loud whine, pressing his fist to his mouth. And without explanation, he stood up and left to his room.

No one said anything for a few moments, until Schmidt had to say something. "Well, why is he upset? He's not the one who's basically her boyfriend and is finding out about this _now_!"

* * *

 

When Jess told them she had to have everything done by Friday if they wanted to spend all day Saturday with Huxley, Nick made it his personal mission to make sure this happened. He was going to spend two and a half months without seeing the kid and as much as he hated to admit it, Nick was going to miss him. He wanted to make sure they spent Saturday doing the best things possible with Huxley.

And Friday night, when they moved the last of Jess' essentials into the loft, she looked up with a smile and announced that Saturday shenanigans was officially happening.

They started the Saturday out like the would any other. With Feely-Cup.

Nick could hear Huxley giggling as he felt around in the cup. "You'll never guess what it is!" Huxley taunted.

Nick scrunched up his nose.

"Don't listen to him, Nick," Winston encouraged. "We believe in you, man. Tell us, what's in the cup?"

"Ah, it's a hard one," he could hear Jess' stifled laugh. "It's a mini carrot,"

They all laughed.

"Onion and potato?"

More laughter. God, Nick hated this game!

"Dumbest boy in all the world! How are you so bad at Feely-Cup?"

"You are awful at this game,"

"Sea glass?" Nick shook his head. "I'm overthinking it,"

"If his life depended on this, he would die,"

"Battery,"

"When are batteries squishy?"

"I'm just kidding, I'm kidding. I know it's not a battery. I'm kidding. Feel, Nick," he grumbled to himself.

There was a knock on the door. Nick was too engrossed in the game to tell them not to answer it. This was Huxley's day and he did not want it interupted. But as it was, he could hear Schmidt get up to answer the door.

"Nick, will you be paying for bonus time?" Huxley asked, Nick could hear him shuffling the quarters around.

"He can't. He is all out of quarters,"

"Uh, Nick?" Schmidt called out. "Your dad's here,"

"Very funny, Schmidty, but my concentration will not be broken,"

"Hey-ya, Nickels!"

Nick felt the blood drain from his face as he pushed up his blindfold and stood. And sure enough, his dad was standing in front of him. Walt Miller. In the flesh.

Walt opened up his arms for a hug. "Come on, kid, bring it in. Come on!"

Nick didn't want the hug, but just like everything else concerning his dad, it happened and he didn't resist. And while he tried to come up with a list of reasons why his dad was here, his main thought revolved around Jess and Huxley and he did not want them anywhere Walt Miller.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a new chapter for you faithful readers! So sorry about the wait, but I wanted to try and get this chapter as perfect as possible and well...hope you like the end result!

Walt let go of Nick, not caring that Nick was like limp fish in his arms. He always understood that to just be the way Nick hugged people. He smiled at everyone, nodding his head at their greetings. He was about to ask about the game they were playing, but his eyes focused on Huxley. He stared at the boy for a beat, then turned to Nick. "Nick, why didn't you ever tell me?"

Nick frowned. "Tell you what?"

Walt gave an incredulous look and gestured to Huxley.

Nick was still frowning, but this time crossed his arms defensively. "Why should I tell you about him?"

Jess cleared her throat. "Don't worry about Mr. Grumpy Pants there. He gets weird about stuff when Huxley's involved. One time this cashier was trying to tease Huxley and Nick was with us and I swear to you, I thought Nick was going to punch the guy," Jess said with a laugh, ignoring the way Nick was glaring at her. "Like I said, this is Huxley and I'm Jess,"

Walt took her extended hand and gave it a kiss. "Jess, let me just say, I am now the happiest man alive now that I have met you and Huxley,"

Jess actually blushed and a nervous giggle escaped her mouth.

Walt turned his attention to Huxley. "So how are you doing, buddy?"

Huxley was the only who kept his eyes on Nick since Walt walked in. And he could sense the frustration radiating off of him. All of it directed at Walt. "I'm okay," Huxley answered with a shrug.

Walt grinned, finally turning his attention back to the game. With all the suaveness in the world, he guessed exactly what was in the cup after feeling around for five seconds. Nick did not appreciate the sudden awe that sprung into Huxley's eyes.

"While this is a pleasant surprise, I'm sorry to say you came at a horrible time," Nick said. "Our entire day is booked and there's no room for any kind of surprises,"

"Oh, Nick, how often does your dad come for a visit? Besides, Huxley is only going to be gone for a two and a half months. He's coming back," Jess glanced at Walt. "And when's the next time your dad will pop by?"

Walt grinned. "Oh Nicky, I like this one. But you know what? I think we should let the kid decide. What do you say, son? Want to let an old man spend the day with you too?"

Nick twisted his nick, hating how chummy Walt was getting with Huxley. But Huxley was a smart kid. He didn't trust easily and he knew they had a whole day planned and-

"Okay,"

Nick's eyes found the little traitor grinning at Walt. Of course. No one was immune to Walt's stupid charm. As much as Nick hated to admit it, he had fallen prey to that same charm before when he was Huxley's age. But he was a grown man now and Walt had disappointed him too many times.

"Your day just got a hundred times better!" Walt declared. "And you know what? I've got tickets to see the horse races today. You ever seen a horse up close and personal?"

Huxley shook his head, obviously star struck.

"Well, tell you what, I am going to make sure you see one and get to at least touch one. Deal?"

"Sorry, but we had our entire day planned out already. Don't think we can make it to any horse races,"

"But I really want to see a horse,"

Nick pursed his lips as he stared at Huxley's big brown eyes. He was making them bigger on purpose. His mouth tilted in a little pout and the hint of a slouch in his shoulders. Nick looked to Jess, hoping she would recuse him from Huxley's face that got him everything he wanted. But Jess just shrugged and held up her arms in a 'what are you going do?' gesture.

"All right, fine! We can go to the horse races!"

* * *

 

They had a few hours before they needed to leave for the races, choosing to stay at the loft in the meantime. Nick was helping Walt get settled in his room while Jess sat with Schmidt and Winston. They were giving her all kinds of info about Walt and Huxley was bored with the conversation and just wanted to see horses. Sometimes when he saw the horses on TV, he couldn't believe they were actual living things. Today, he would finally see once and for all if they were actual things or if they were just weird puppets.

Nick came into the kitchen growling and all conversation stopped. The growling did not stop as he grabbed some tools and opened up the cabinet under the sink.

"Oh my…Nick, please do not angry-fix the sink," Schmidt said in a weary voice.

"I'm not angry-fixing! I'm fixing!" Nick yelled, sticking his head under the sink and proceeding to bang the pipes around. "You want to know why I'm messed up? Why I don't trust people? Why I have anger issues?"

"Oh yes, I do want to know," Jess said, staring intently at Nick as he continued pounding the pipes.

"Why I have the blood pressure of a hummingbird?!" He stopped talking and began rattling the pipes.

"Do you think maybe this is about your dad?" Jess asked over the clattering of the pipes.

Nick didn't answer. He kept pushing and twisting and banging the pipes.

Huxley watched him, concern growing in his tiny body. Was Nick upset because of him? Because he wanted to let his dad come too? "You don't like your dad?"

The banging stopped and everyone turned to Huxley, as if now realizing that he had been there the entire time.

Nick stayed under the sink. "It's…a little bit more complicated than that,"

"But you have a dad," Huxley continued with a shrug. "I would like my dad if I had one," Huxley mumbled the last part, but from the way everyone in the room reacted, it was as if he had yelled it at the top of his lungs.

Nick looked helplessly at Jess, as if apologizing for even bringing up this subject. Jess blew her bangs out of her eyes in slight defeat. She knew this day was coming.

Before she could gather her thoughts, Winston opened his mouth. "You know what, Huxley. I think you would like your dad. And your dad would like you too. Because you are an incredible kid and your dad is a pretty good guy too," Winston glanced around to see everyone staring at him now. "Well, I mean, if I knew him I'm sure he would…I mean your mom wouldn't procreate with just any guy…"

"What's procreate?"

"It's um…you know…when-"

"Oh my God, Winston, why?" Jess groaned, covering her face with her hands.

"Procreation is when a man and a woman-"

"Schmidt! No!"

"What is your problem man?!"

"The kid wants to know! I am not going to deny him any information if he ever asks me anything,"

"Huxley, you are never going to ask Schmidt anything ever again,"

"So how 'bout some food before we hit the race track?" Walt called out, interrupting the now very awkward conversation.

* * *

 

Nick popped more French fries into his mouth. It helped to have food in his mouth. It stopped him from saying anything. Especially as Walt shared humiliating story after another. And Jess and Huxley were lapping up the stories as if they were starved animals.

Well, at least Schmidt wasn't impressed by Walt. Nick had a feeling it was because Walt swindled money out of him too, but he'd rather not ask.

"Did you know Nick used to have a nickname, Little Penis?"

Nick quickly swallowed his food. "That's not a story for everyone," he glanced at Huxley, then glared at his dad.

"Aw, come on, Nick. Let Pop Pop tell the story!" Winston complained.

"Yeah, I want to hear Pop Pop's story!"

Nick turned to Huxley. "No. No, you can not call him that. That is not his name. His name is Walt,"

Walt clicked his tongue. "Aw, Nickels, the kid can call me whatever he wants. Ain't that right kid?"

Huxley nodded with a wide grin.

Nick rolled his eyes, turning to glare at Winston for encouraging Huxley.

"Okay, I won't share the story, only to be respectful of the beautiful lady present," Walt said with a smile directed towards Jess.

Jess giggled. She actually giggled. Nick stuffed more fries into his mouth.

"Hey, Huxley, want to help an old man get everyone some refills?"

Huxley nodded eagerly, already helping Walt gather up the half empty cups.

Jess watched with a smile as they went to the soda machine, while Nick watched with a frown. Walt was talking, probably telling Huxley the Little Penis story. "I don't know, Nick. A lot of charm coming from this end of the booth," Jess said, finally looking at Nick.

Schmidt scoffed and Nick was grateful for his backup at least. "Cause that's what he does. He lures you in with his charm and his moustache and his perfect hair,"

"I feel like you need to talk to him about this,"

Schmidt laughed. "Don't be so naïve, Jessica. Getting Nicholas Miller to talk about his feelings is like trying to convince a plumber his pipe work is art. Trust me. I know,"

"You've told a plumber his work is art?" Winston asked.

"No, you idiot!" Schmidt exclaimed, slapping a fry out of Winston's fingers.

Nick rolled his eyes, focusing back on the problem at hand. "You think that if I just tell him what I feel that everything will be okay 'cause that's really the way the world works,"

"Took the words right out of my mouth, Little Penis,"

Nick shook his head. "It's not a thing,"

"I love a good nickname,"

"Not…not gonna' stick,"

Walt and Huxley came back to the table with the drinks. Huxley was only entrusted to carry one while Walt handled the rest of them.

"Mom, guess what! Pop Pop taught me a cool trick!" Huxley exclaimed as he slid into the booth next to Jess and Walt sliding in right behind him.

Walt laughed and could pick up a hint of nervousness. "We don't want to show off that trick yet. Why don't we wait until the perfect time, yeah?"

Huxley beamed at Walt and nodded. Nick stuffed more fries in his mouth, praying this day would end already.

* * *

 

Huxley was bouncing in his seat, watching with wonder at all the horses lining up, preparing for the race. As much as Nick hated to admit it, Huxley would probably remember this more than what they actually had planned for him. He just had to endure Huxley calling Walt 'Pop Pop' for one day. He could handle that.

"Hey, Nicky, let's make a bet. Why don't you take Junior here and show him how it's done," Walt said, digging through his pocket for a wad of cash and handing it to him.

Nick stared at the money, then back to his father. "What's the catch?"

"What catch? There is no catch. What possible catch can there be? All I want you to do it make a bet and show Huxley so he can learn too,"

"Please, Nick? I want to learn,"

Nick knew it was a mistake to look down at Huxley. Those big brown eyes staring up at him with the tiniest of pouts. That was twice in one day he was falling for _the look_. He let out loud sigh, finally taking the offered cash. "All right, Pop, you want me to lose your money? I'll be happy to. Come on, kid,"

Huxley jumped up and followed Nick. Always remembering Jess' rule about holding hands in a crowded place, Huxley latched on to Nick's hand.

Nick didn't even bat an eye. He wrapped his fingers around Huxley's tiny hand as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Thank you, Nick," Huxley said out of the blue.

Nick frowned and looked down at him. "For what?"

"For letting Pop Pop come with us today," he kicked at a stray rock on the pathway. "I really like him,"

Nick tried to hold back a small growl.

But Huxley was always able to tell Nick's moods. "Why don't you like Pop Pop?"

Oh, that was a loaded question. But Nick wasn't going to hide anything from Huxley. He wanted to know, so then Nick would let him know. "There are people in life who you want to be unpredictable. Your pothead neighbor or Vice President Joe Biden. And then there are people who you don't want to be unpredictable, like your dentist, or I don't know, your father,"

Huxley was quiet for a moment and Nick thought maybe that was a bit much for the seven year old to digest. "Do you know if my dad was unpredictable?"

And there was the topic Nick never wanted to have with Huxley again. Jess was going to have fun with this next week because Nick was sure Huxley wasn't going to forget. Nick stopped walking and turned to face Huxley. He was trying to come up with something profound to say, but that wasn't his area of expertise. Hell, Winston or Schmidt would be better at something like this.

But Nick didn't get the chance to put his thoughts into words. Someone bumped into him and spilled beer all over him.

"Hey! What the hell man?!"

Nick looked down at his drenched clothes, then back up to the man in front of him who had just bumped into him. "Did you seriously not see me standing here?!"

"Well it's not my fault you decided to stand there like an asshole!"

"Oh, so you bump into me and spill your beer all over me and want to blame _me_?!"

"Yeah, because it's your damn fault!" the man said, giving Nick a shove.

Nick could feel his blood boiling. This was the last thing he wanted to deal with right now and Huxley was there and he really should walk away. But he was Nick Miller. The same man who had anger issues.

Nick shoved him back, not caring that a crowd was gathering. "So that's how it's going to be, huh?!"

The man snarled, pulling his fist back, but he stopped. His eyes wandered down to Huxley. "What the hell?"

Nick followed his gaze. Huxley convulsing, mumbling gibberish as he tried to reach for Nick's hand. Nick felt his heart stop. "Huxley? Hey, what's going on, kid? What's wrong?" Nick knelt in front of him. He grabbed his arms, hoping to steady him. Oh God, this could not be happening. Was he having an allergic reaction? Jess had never mentioned any medical conditio. What if this was something-

"T-the g-g-gum…sugar…"

For the second time that day and most likely not the last, Nick felt his blood boiling. He knew that phrase and he wished he had never heard it from Huxley's mouth. " _What_?"

The crowd that had gathered for the fight were now gathered to see the convulsing child. Some offered assistance, asking Nick if they needed to call an ambulance for his son.

Nick ignored them as he began whispering. "Huxley, you don't have to do this," he glanced around, not seeing the man that had caused this whole scene in the first place. "You can stop now,"

And Huxley listened, grinning at Nick. "Pop Pop taught me how to do the Sugar Ray. Did I do it just like you?"

Nick didn't answer. He stood up, grabbed Huxley's hand and headed back for their seats, ignoring a few more cries of 'Is the kid all right?' or how his clothes were still dripping beer.

"Nick? Did I do something wrong?" Huxley questioned, trying to keep up with Nick's hurried pace.

Again, Nick didn't hear him. The anger he felt was making his ears buzz and he was hardly aware of anyone or anything around him. The only thing he knew was that he needed to get Jess and they were leaving. _Right now_.

But when they finally made it back to their seats, only Schmidt and Winston were sitting there. "Where's Walt?" Nick asked.

Schmidt shrugged. "He left with Jess a little bit after you left,"

Nick could feel himself getting a hernia. This surprise visit from Walt was going to kill him. "Here, watch Huxley. I'm going to get Jess and we're leaving,"

"Are you mad at me?" Huxley asked quietly before Nick could walk away.

Nick let out a deep breath. He hadn't even realized how Huxley might have perceived his behavior. And it made sense for him to come to that conclusion. Nick bent down in front of Huxley and held his shoulders. "No, Huxley. I am not mad at you. You did nothing wrong. Got it?"

Huxley looked down and nodded.

Yeah, they were definitely going to have to talk and Nick would have to reassure him even more that he did nothing wrong. But right now, he needed to get Jess before she was swindled out of what little money she had.

* * *

 

Jess looked at the horse in front of her. She never realized they were such huge animals.

"So what do you say, Blue Eyes? Ready to invest in A Father's Love?"

Jess bit her lip. "I really want to, but…what if we came up with another way for you to get your second chance?"

Walt nodded and looked down. "No, you're right. I mean, it was a stupid idea in the first place. Nick probably won't even remember wanting a horse when he was little," he looked back up at her with a sad smile. "It's just…I'm at a loss of what to do to get my second chance with him,"

Jess clicked her tongue, feeling her hand itching for the checkbook in her purse.

"Jess, don't you dare reach into that purse!"

Walt and Jess both turned to see Nick walking towards them. "Oh, Nick!" Jess grinned and waved. "So what do you think of this horse? He's great, right?"

Nick crossed his arms and planted himself in front of them, not looking at Jess or the horse. Instead, he stared Walt down with what he hoped was a disappointed glare. "You were going to con her, weren't you?"

"Aw, come on, Nicky. It wasn't like that,"

Jess tilted her head, trying to catch up the accusation Nick was threw out. "No, wait, Nick, you don't understand. Your dad he…well, he only wants a second chance with you. And you know what. I think he deserves it!"

Nick finally looked at Jess and scoffed. "You thi- _him_? Jess, he was going to steal money from you!"

"No, he said it's an investment. An investment for A Father's Love,"

"How much were you going to give him?"

"What? Nick, you don't-"

"How much money, Jessica?!"

"Five hundred dollars," Jess mumbled

Nick clenched his fists, turning to glare at Walt again. "We're leaving. I will not let you con my friend out of five hundred dollars!"

"Nick-"

"Jess, no. Get Huxley and let him know we're leaving,"

"No, not unless you promise to talk to him,"

Nick rolled his eyes. "All right, fine! I'll talk to him right now it that's what it takes to make you leave!"

Jess smiled, not at all phased by his yelling. "Here you go, Walt! You're second chance!"

Nick frowned, watching Jess walk away. He turned back to Walt. "When are you going to stop this, Dad?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just trying to make a living-"

"Did you know Jess lost her job a week ago? She lost her job and hasn't gotten any kind of job interviews or offers and she's got a seven year old that she's trying to clothe and feed. And you wanted to con _her_?!"

"If we had gotten that horse, she would've gotten three times the amount that she put in. That's more than she would've seen from you with your ridiculous bar tending job,"

Nick let out humorless laugh. "You know what? You know what's funny about you? Somehow, you are trying to make this seem like my fault. This isn't my fault! I didn't invite you here!"

"Are you angry at me about something, Little Penis?"

"I have been mad at you for thirty years, Dad. And that's only gotten worse today since you decided to not only attempt to con my friend, but taught Huxley the Sugar Ray!"

At that, Walt laughed. "You're mad about _that_? Come on, Nick. That's just me passing down a family tradition!"

"Huxley does not need to take any part in the screwed up Miller men traditions! I am not a successful adult because of those traditions! I don't eat vegetables and/or take care of myself. And it's because of you!"

"Well, okay, maybe I'll take a little bit of that hit,"

"Look, it's not 'taking a hit.' It's just saying sorry,"

"All right, maybe, uh, maybe I did make some mistakes along the line, okay?"

Nick took a deep breath. Was this the beginning of closure on his relationship with his father? "We all make mistakes, Dad,"

Walt gave him a smile. "You know what, though? I see you with that little kid and I know you aren't making the same mistakes I did. Sure, I think it's weird he calls you Nick, but if that's what makes you happy, so be it,"

Nick frowned a little but didn't think too much about his statement. It was probably the nicest thing Walt had ever told him his entire life. He wasn't going to question it. "Thanks, Dad,"

"Hey, what do you say, tomorrow, we go to a game? Try this whole day with Huxley all over?"

"They're actually flying out tomorrow for Portland. But, um…what if you came with us to the airport instead?"

Walt smiled and placed his hand on Nick's shoulder. "Sounds like a great idea,"

* * *

 

Nick looked inside the ice cream shop and his eyes were drawn to Jess, Huxley, Schmidt, and Winston. He was sure everyone's attention was on them as they were the rowdiest customers at the moment. Nick smiled, loving how none of them seemed to actually care. Because their attention was on Huxley and making sure he enjoyed the rest of his last day before leaving for Portland.

After Nick and Walt finished their conversation, they went back to their seats. Which were empty. Except for a note on pink paper decorated with purple butterflies in the corners. Of course, it was a note from Jess.

_You've been conned! We left and took the cars to make sure you and your dad do talk. When you're done, you can meet us at Huxley's favorite ice cream place._

She signed the note and drew a quick smiley face.

"That's not a con, Jess," Nick mumbled to himself, a reluctant smile on his face.

Walt had read the note over Nick's shoulder, but before Nick could ask if he was ready to go, he saw a man limping and started yelling and running after him. He turned to call out to Nick to go on without him. He would catch up with them later.

Leaving Nick to show up at the ice cream shop alone. Which, when he thought about it, wasn't such a bad thing. This had been their last planned stop for the day anyways.

A bell jingled as Nick walked in, and only then in a passing thought did he remember his shirt still smelled like the spilled beer. But the commotion they were causing only grew when they saw Nick walk in and Nick forgot about the beer all over again.

Winston pulled up a chair from another table. "Pop Pop didn't come?"

Nick shook his head, sitting down and noticing how Huxley was avoiding looking at him. "No, some old associate of his showed up. He said he'd catch up with us later," Nick considered telling Huxley he was actually going to join them at the airport tomorrow, but thought better of it. He might have finally forgiven his father for everything but that didn't mean he trusted him. He would at least mention it later though when Huxley was finally asleep.

"So how did you like my con?" Jess asked with a sly smirk.

Nick stopped himself from rolling his eyes. "We talked,"

Jess grinned. "You're welcome,"

"Hey, Huxley, why don't you come help me pick out some good ice cream? You know I always have a hard time making a decision here," Nick said, standing up and hoping the kid would follow him.

Huxley didn't move until Jess gave him a gentle nudge. He practically dragged his feet the entire way up to the menu board.

As often as Nick had come here with Jess and Huxley that one month of ice cream everyday, Nick basically had the entire menu memorized. Which gave him the perfect opportunity to talk to Huxley while waiting for his order to be taken. "Hey, Huxley, I'm…I'm sorry for what happened back at the races. I didn't meant to scare you like that and I wanted to make sure you know that I was not angry with you,"

Huxley nodded, kicking at some invisible dirt on the ground.

"I don't know what…Pop Pop told you about the Sugar Ray but I want to make sure you know you don't ever have to do something like that again,"

"But I was just trying to help you because that man wanted to fight you,"

"And I appreciate your help, but _I_ should've known better than to get angry with that man too and put you in a scary position. So I'm sorry, bud. Do you forgive me?"

Huxley pursed his lips and for a moment, Nick thought he had scared him for life. But then Huxley looked up at him with smirk just like his mother. "Only if you buy me another scoop of ice cream,"

Nick laughed. Jess would kill him if he did. "You got yourself a deal, kid,"

* * *

 

Winston scrolled through his phone as he scooped more oatmeal into his mouth. Cece hadn't answered any of his messages and Winston was beyond annoyed. Why had she decided to take this trip without even notifying him in the first place?

But at least she was coming back in a few days. And Jess would be gone, hopefully making it easier to talk to her and explain what he had found out.

Footsteps down the hall interrupted his thoughts though. He looked up and saw Walt tip toeing towards the front door, bag in hand.

"Hey Pop Pop," Winston called out, getting up and walking towards him. "What are you doing? I thought you were going to go with Nick to drop Jess and Huxley off at the airport today?"

"Going to get a bagel," Walt answered without pause. "In Chicago,"

Winston let out a heavy sigh, remembering Nick ranting once about the unpredictableness of Walt Miller. "Can't really say anything to make you stay?"

Walt smiled at him. "You were always a smart kid, Winnie," he opened the door and stepped out in the hall. He stopped for a moment and looked back at Winston. "Will you tell him for me that I, uh…" Walt shook his head. "Just tell him I think he's doing a great job at being a father,"

Winston blinked. "What do you mean?"

Walt gave him an odd look. "Huxley. He's doing a great job with him and I'm glad to see he's nothing like me,"

"Wait, you think Huxley is Nick's?"

Walt gave Winston an incredulous look. "Of course he is. Don't you remember how Nick looked like when you were kids,"

Winston could feel his eyes widening. Why hadn't he ever thought about comparing pictures?!

"Keep an eye on my grandson, will ya?" Walt said with a wink before closing the door behind him.

Winston stayed frozen for a good few minutes. Before, he had been ninety five percent sure. Now, it had definitely bumped up to a ninety eight percent chance that Nick was Huxley's father.

* * *

 

Nick kept his eyes on Huxley was he made his way to the vending machine. The airport wasn't too busy in the mornings, but Nick still wanted to make sure he didn't wander off.

"I know how hard it was for you to talk to Walt, and I just…some people, I just don't under…they just-" Jess let out a frustrated yell which earned them a looks from other travelers and especially security guards.

Nick glanced at her, wondering if this was the real reason she had given Huxley a few dollars for a vending machine snack. To get rid of him so they could talk in private for a moment.

"I understand why you want to break pipes now. And if I wasn't about to board a plane, I would say let's just drink a bunch and destroy the sink,"

"I don't need to break the pipes, Jess. I'm fine. I mean, truth be told, I was happy to see him,"

Jess shook her head, watching as Huxley struggled to fit the crinkled bill into the machine. "I thought if you talked to him that maybe-"

"No…look, Jess, people don't change. If someone's broken, they just stay broken,"

Jess turned to look at him. "You're not broken,"

Nick gave a wry laugh. "I'm a little broken,"

"No, no, no, no,"

"Oh yeah,"

"You should be so much worse,"

Nick looked down at his shoes, wishing they could have this heart to heart in a quieter place like the kitchen in the loft.

"Seriously, you could be picking up calls on a banana. You could be, like, hello?" Jess said in one of caricature voices, making Nick hold back a laugh. "I don't know how you made it out, but…you're good,"

Nick glanced at Huxley, seeing him finally pressing the button for his chosen snack, before looking at Jess again. "Well, look, there's a lot I don't tell you. I haven't done laundry in five months. I'm not wearing underwear right now. I'm just wearing a big sock right now,"

Jess gave him incredulous look. "Really,"

Nick smirked. "A _big_ sock,"

Jess laughed, her cheeks turning a slight shade of pink as she glanced at the people walking around them.

"A very big sock," Nick still pressed on.

"I got it," Jess said, noticing Huxley was making his way back towards them, bag of fruit snacks in hand. She held out her hand for him and Huxley took it with a smile. "Well, Nick, we've got a plane to catch. Thanks for the ride."

"Anytime," Nick said with a nod.

They made their way to the TSA checkpoint, about to get in line, when Huxley began tugging on Jess' sleeve. Nick watched as Huxley spoke to Jess. She smiled and gave him an approving nod. Huxley turned to look at Nick and ran to him.

On instinct, Nick bent down just in time to catch Huxley as he launched himself into his arms. "I'm going to miss you, Nick," Huxley said, his voice muffled as he burried his face in Nick's shoulder.

Nick gave him a tight squeeze. "I'm going to miss you too,"

Huxley lingered for a few more moments before pulling back a little to look at Nick with a smile. "I love you, Nick,"

Nick's own smile faltered. Part of him wondered if he heard correctly. But Huxley was looking at him with the same adoration in his eyes whenever he looked at his mom. "I love you too, Huxley," Nick said, surprising himself.

Huxley pulled away completely and ran back to Jess. The pair waved at him as he stood up and they went in line. Nick watched them for a moment, trying to calm the hammering in his chest. Somehow, someway, Jess and Huxley managed to squirm their way into his shriveled up heart. And Nick had only one reaction for this new development.

"Oh shit,"


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You lovely readers, I am always so happy with the wonderful comments you leave! Seriously, it's always super encouraging and I'm glad you like reading this as much as I like writing it! Here's a new chapter and I hope you enjoy this one especially!!

Cece covered her mouth as she yawned, making her way into the loft kitchen in Schmidt's kimono. "Morning," she mumbled to Schmidt and Winston as she opened the fridge to pull out creamer for coffee.

"Do you realize I have to leave for work right now and you're wearing  _that_? I have at least twenty different fantasies involving you in my kimono,"

Cece could only manage a glare at Schmidt over her coffee mug. It was too early for his comments and too early for her to come back with a reasonable comeback.

Winston held up his hands, "Wait, wait, wait. You spent the night  _here_? You've been here for  _how long_?"

"Why are you so interested in the comings and going of my girlfriend?"

"We aren't dating, Schmidt,"

"Fine, my lover,"

Cece groaned. "Go to work. You're going to be late if you don't leave now,"

Schmidt let out a pathetic sigh, "Fine. But we will be revisiting this wardrobe tonight,"

Cece shooed him out, ignoring the fact she had a fond smile on her face as he kissed her cheek and walked out the door. She set her mug down, turned to the fridge and opened it to see what she could have for breakfast.

She didn't even get to see if there were any eggs. The door slammed in her face and she was being dragged into Schmidt's room.

"Winston! What are you-"

"You don't even tell me you're back?" Winston exclaimed, shutting the door and turning to her with crossed arms. "How long have you even been back?"

Cece took a deep breath. It was way too early to deal with this nonsense. "I just came in last night. Schmidt picked me up and I slept over. Did you really expect me to wake you up at two in the morning?"

" _Yes!_ "

Cece closed her eyes, imagining herself finishing her coffee instead of leaving it on the counter half full. Jess would definitely fit in with these morning people.

"Do you even remember any of our conversations before you left? The messages I sent you while you were gone to tell you to hurry back so we could  _talk_? Because none of this is stuff that should be talked about over the phone,"

Cece's eyes shot open as the morning haze around her brain finally left. "You found something out about Nick and Jess!" she whispered.

Winston gave her a smug look, crossing his arms. "Yes, I did. And I found out even more after you left. Which, you know what, I'm still upset that you didn't even tell me that you were leaving and then you extended your trip too. It was really inconvenient for me and I could have actually used your backup. Now you don't even tell me when you come back! Are we even  _friends_?!"

"Winston, we can talk about that later. What did you find out?"

Winston narrowed his eyes as if trying to decide whether or not he should still tell her anything. "Girl, you need to sit down for what I'm about to tell you," he said, unfolding his arms and resting them on his hips, having come to his decision.

* * *

Nick smiled to himself as he walked into the kitchen and poured himself some coffee. This was how he enjoyed his mornings. The loft completely empty and quiet.

At least the kitchen. Winston was probably here, but he wouldn't bother Nick. It was Schmidt Nick had to worry about and thank goodness he had already left to work.

With his coffee in hand, Nick made his way to the couch and turned on the TV. It was automatically on ESPN, making his morning just a little more easy.

Nick felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out and smiled. It was another message from Huxley. It was picture of his ice cream with the caption 'I like the ice cream at home better,'

He was curious as to how he had convinced Jess to let him eat ice cream this early in the morning, but Nick didn't bother writing out a response. He had used up his allotted text messages already. The last message he sent was to Huxley actually, telling him just that. He couldn't have Huxley thinking Nick was ignoring him after being gone for five days.

He set the phone down next to him on the couch and focused back on the game on the TV. It was an old game, but it was when the Bulls beat the Lakers and it was a fantastic game.

His phone started buzzing, this time with a phone call. Nick glanced down and suppressed a groan. It was Bug Eyes again. She had called him nearly twenty times in the last five days. Did she realize she was doing it? Nick always told himself he would answer one of these days. Or at least open one of her text messages. Even though it was always so much easier to delete them without even opening it to make room for Huxley's messages.

But the day when he would answer the phone for her wasn't today…or anytime soon really.

The call was sent to his voicemail and Nick kept watching TV and ignoring the missed call, just like the other twenty times.

"Nick, why the hell are you not answering your phone?" Schmidt exclaimed as he stormed inside the loft.

Nick jumped, turning to look at Schmidt's approaching form. "What? You haven't called me at all. You don't even  _call_  people. And why are you even here? I thought you were already at work?"

Schmidt held up his phone as if it was the perfect answer.

Nick stared from the phone to Schmidt before shrugging his shoulders. "Okay…?"

Schmidt rolled his eyes, practically throwing the phone at Nick. "It's Jess. She's been trying to call you,"

Nick fumbled with the phone for a moment, finally pressing it to his ear and pulling out his own phone. "Jess? What do you mean you've been calling me? I have absolutely no calls from you,"

"What is that?!" Schmidt exclaimed, yanking the phone from Nick's hands.

Nick winced, not listening to Jess on the line. "Oh yeah, well, that's um…my phone. I switched it out again,"

"You swit-Nick!"

"What? You're the one that's supposed to be at work! And I hated the phone you gave me! Why didn't it have any buttons?!"

" _Nick! I'm trying to talk to you!"_

"Sorry, yes, hi, I'm here!" Nick said, making a face at Schmidt.

" _How about you explain something to me. You have been answering Huxley's texts since we've been here, but when I call you, you_ never _pick up or send me a message,"_

Nick ignored Schmidt as he hovered, waiting for his phone. "I don't know what to tell you. I've gotten all of his messages without any problems but I'm just not getting anything from you,"

Schmidt snorted. "Probably because you're too busy screening Bug Eyes' calls again since you bought another dinosaur,"

Nick looked at him with his best threatening look. He mouthed threats to Schmidt to stop going through his phone while Jess continued talking.

" _So are you saying I should_ _just_ _call you from my mom's phone, pretend I'm Huxley, so you'll actually talk to me?"_

"Wait, he's not using your phone?"

" _No, Nick! My name would be coming up on your phone if he was using it,"_

She paused for a moment and Nick used that moment to crawl over the couch and try and get his phone back from Schmidt before he did something stupid.

" _Oh my God, Nick. Please tell me you actually have my number saved on your phone,"_

"Okay, fine! You caught me! I don't have your number saved! But in my defense, it took me forever to actually save Schmidt's number in my phone too," Nick said, trying to keep his tone even as he snatched his phone back.

" _Right after this, I'm calling you and you better save it!"_

"All right, I promise," Nick let out a breath, settling back on the couch. "So how's Huxley? Is he liking Portland?"

" _I think_ _he likes how much my mom is spoiling him more than the city itself,"_  Jess said with a hint of wryness.  _"But he's great and I don't know how I'm going to survive the summer without him,"_

"Yeah, I hear ya," Nick mumbled. He glanced up and saw Schmidt sitting next to him. He rolled his eyes and waved for Schmidt to leave.

Schmidt just motioned back that he was still waiting for his phone.

" _So I was actually calling you because I need a huge favor,"_

"No, I am not checking up on your tenants. That's weird and I don't like getting involved with neighbors,"

Jess laughed.  _"Yet, here you are, talking to your neighbor,"_

"Ah, but you're our roommate actually, so that's different. Oh, by the way, we set up your room already. Everything's unpacked and in it's place,"

There was a small pause from her.  _"_ _Really_ _?"_

"Yeah, we wanted to make sure there was one less thing for you to worry about,"

Jess didn't respond. Which made Nick shift uncomfortably because knowing her, she would make a big deal out of this and it wasn't. It wasn't a big deal. It was not a big deal that Nick decided to spend the majority of his time for the last couple of days unpacking for her with the occasional help from Winston and Schmidt. It was  _not_  a big deal.

But before either of them could say anything, Nick heard what sounded like a flight announcement. "Jess? Are you at the airport?"

" _Right, yeah, that's why I was calling. So I got a job and I'm starting tomorrow! Vacation time has_ _been cut_ _short,"_

She imitated a sad trombone, but Nick wasn't fazed. "Jess, that's great! Where at?"

"… _The Casserole Shanty,"_

"The what now?"

" _It was the only place I heard back from!"_

"She got a job? Where's her new job?" Schmidt asked, leaning in closer to hear the conversation.

Nick moved away from him. "Jess that's…hey, this is a temporary thing because you are a bad ass teacher and there's a whole group of kids out there waiting for you to teach them,"

" _Aw, thanks Nick. But with this new job, I have to leave Portland today and was wondering if you could pick me up,"_

"Yeah, of course. Send me your flight information. Or you know what, send it to Schmidt's phone because I ran out of messages for the month,"

Jess grumbled something, but didn't argue.

Nick smirked. "See you later, Jess," he hung up and threw the phone back at Schmidt. "There! Now you can leave!"

"Where did she get her job? Please tell me it's at a good place. You and I both know that if it's not she is going to be here moping and moping neighbor Jess was horrible, but moping  _down the hall_ Jess? That's a monster I am not willing to deal with,"

Nick sighed. "Okay, it's not a good job, but she's going to find something better soon!"

Schmidt threw his hands in the air and stood up. "I can't deal with this. I need to go to work,"

Nick ignored him as his phone started ringing. Most likely Jess. But when he looked down at his phone, Bug Eyes flashed on the screen. He could just let it ring and wait for Jess to call him. Because if he declined the call, it would go straight to voicemail without finishing all the rings and Bug Eyes would know he was avoiding her and  _it was seven years ago_ _!_

His mistake, however, was groaning, immediately catching Schmidt's attention.

Before he knew it, his phone was out of his hands.

"Hello, this is the phone of the Nicholas Miller who has very much been screening your phone calls. What can I do for you?" Schmidt answered, grinning in victory as he ran to his room.

"Schmidt, no! Damnit, give it back!" Nick yelled, cursing his belly pocket for not allowing him to move fast enough to catch Schmidt. He wasn't even halfway to Schmidt's room before the thief slammed the door.

Nick growled, marching up to the door and banging on it while trying to force the locked knob open. "Schmidt, I am going to make sure you die a slow and painful death! Open the damn door! Open it!"

* * *

Cece paced the small room, giving obvious sign to her nervousness while Winston sat on the edge of the bed, the only sign of his nerves was the repetitive tapping of his fingers.

"This is…I mean… _how_?" Cece asked, not the first time and most likely not the last time.

Winston shrugged. "I know. I mean, it wasn't even until after Walt left that I feel like it's really confirmed,"

Cece stopped and shook her head. "No. No, I mean…Nope. It is not totally confirmed yet. I mean, there could be hundreds of explanations for this stuff. And I can't believe they wouldn't recognize each other!"

"But remember, you said Jess was on the verge of black-out drunk too and doesn't really remember that night either. And that's when Nick was going through that phase of getting drunk and high at the same time. That combination always resulted in him either not remembering a single detail of his time or imagining it was some kind of weird scenario that most likely was a hallucination,"

"Valid point, but I just…no, we still need the final nail in this coffin,"

Winston threw up his hands. "And what do you expect that's going to be?! For them to do a DNA test?"

Cece paused, already considering the possibility of that avenue.

Before they could discuss the point any further though, the door opened and closed quickly, with Schmidt squeezing in. Cece and Winston both jumped ready to explain away whatever accusation he threw at them, but he didn't pay attention to them. He was the phone with the biggest grin either of them had seen.

But that grin disappeared and his face became even paler, which neither Cece or Winston thought was even possible.

" _Jess?_ " Schmidt finally squeaked out in an uncharacteristically soft voice.

The door vibrated with Nick pounding on the door. "Schmidt, I am going to make sure you die a slow and painful death! Open the damn door! Open it!"

"Uh, yeah…o-okay, I'l um…yes, see you later," Schmidt hung up the phone, allowing Cece and Winston to see that it was actually Nick's phone. He stared at the phone, ignoring Nick's continuous pounding and threats. He looked up at Winston and Cece, his eyes wide. "Nick and Jess had sex," he whispered.

Nick gave the door one final pound"All right, that's it! I'm going to pick this stupid lock!"

" _What?_ " Both Cece and Winston whispered back.

Schmidt stepped away from the door. "They slept together. They had sex. They engaged in physical relations!"

Winston ran to cover Schmidt's mouth before he could get any louder. "How do you know this? What did you find out?"

Schmidt held out Nick's phone, the recent call list pulled up. "She's Bug Eyes! Jess is Bug Eyes!" he whisper-yelled.

Winston sunk down onto the bed. "Oh my God…"

"Bug Eyes? Wait, what does that mean?" Cece asked.

" _The_  Bug Eyes? Are you serious, Schmidt?"

Schmidt nodded.

The doorknob shook and turned before they heard a loud grunt from Nick. "You know what? I know how to use a screwdriver and I'll just take the door knob off!"

No one paid him any attention.

"Is no one going to tell me what that means?"

Winston looked at Cece. "It means we've got that final nail. Nick thought Bug Eyes was a hallucination of an alien with huge eyes. But it was  _Jess_. All those years ago, it was  _her_!"

"I can't believe this!" Schmidt exclaimed as he paced. "They had  _sex_! They had sex, what? How many years ago was it now?" He paused to count in his head, then his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "How old is Huxley?" Schmidt squeaked.

Cece just nodded, knowing Schmidt was reaching the same conclusion.

Schmidt's knees wobbled before he sat next to Winston on the bed. "Nick's a  _father_? But…it wasn't…this screws up the whole life plan I had for him!"

A comment wasn't made concerning Schmidt's life plan for Nick. They had bigger things to worry about. Like Nick pacing the loft and swearing loudly as he tried to locate a screwdriver.

"Give me the phone," Cece said, taking it from Schmidt's hands before he could react.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Winston asked as he was in less shock that Schmidt. This had been speculation between him and Cece for a while now. But this was all brand new for Schmidt. He had reason to sit shell-shocked on the bed.

"I'm fixing Jess' contact info to what it's supposed to be and deleting all previous calls from her. Nick can  _not_  find out. Because if he finds out, Jess will find out and that will ruin them both. Especially with where they're at right now,"

Cece was met with blank stares. She expected it from Schmidt, but Winston? Really? "Come on, I can't be the only one that sees it,"

Again, blank stares. Cece shook her head and huffed. This was something they could talk about later. Changing Jess' name in Nick's phone was more important. Especially since Nick resorted to banging on the door again and yelling for Schmidt to open the door again.

She flipped the phone closed and tossed it back to Schmidt who reacted enough to at least fumble to keep it in his hands. "Okay, Schmidt, you need to get to work. You're going to be an hour late if you don't leave now,"

Schmidt scoffed. "How am I supposed to go to work after finding out he's a-"

Winston covered his mouth again as his voice rose to a dangerous yell. "You will go to work and pretend that  _none of this_  happened. Got it?"

Schmidt narrowed his eyes and shoved Winston's hand away. "You expect me to act like my life hasn't just been turned upside down? Do you realize what kind of effect-"

"I will throw away this kimono if you don't," Cece interrupted.

Schmidt gasped. "You wouldn't,"

Cece crossed her arms. "Try me,"

Schmidt sighed. "Fine! I won't say anything. But when this blows up in our faces, because it will, I will make sure you two are the ones going down for it,"

Cece rolled her eyes. "Act normal," she ground out, eyeing the two men before opening the door.

Nick almost fell forward when the door opened, obviously not expecting it to open. "Schmi-!...Oh, Cece…and Winston…what the hell-?"

"Here's your phone! Turns out Bug Eyes was just a telemarketer! Good bye everyone!" Schmidt said brightly as he shoved it into his hands and sprinted out the door.

Nick stared at his phone, flipping it open, then looking up to where Schmidt had just run out of the loft. "What the hell was that? And why were you two in here?"

Cece laughed and waved her hand. "You know, Schmidt. He's just a big ol' goof ball,"

"Okay…" Nick frowned, turning his feet and deciding he really didn't want to know what was going on. But Winston caught him in a hug.

"I just want you to know I am so proud of you, man. So proud,"

Nick squirmed out of the hug, giving Winston an exasperated look and completely missing the tight expression on Cece's face. "You know what? I don't want to get involved in whatever shenanigans going on between you three. So leave me out of it, deal?"

Cece and Winston nodded.

Nick shook his head, looking back down at his phone and walking to his room.

Cece smacked Winston's arm once the door was closed. "What was that?!" she hissed. "I thought we agreed on acting normal!"

"Hey! You were the one using one of Jess' nervous phrases!"

Cece closed her eyes, not denying the accusation. "We still have a few days before Jess comes back. We have time to process this and Huxley won't be here this whole summer. We can keep this a secret,"

* * *

The entire ride back from the airport, Nick found it difficult to keep a grin from his face. Jess talked the whole way back, sharing every possible detail. How her mother was spoiling Huxley, the fact that she was hired over a text message, the great energy in Portland but how she was ready to get back to San Diego, even if Huxley wasn't coming with her and oh God, she didn't want to think about Huxley because she was sure she was going to cry

Nick was glad he decided against getting her a balloon since she was obviously very emotional and a balloon would only make her more so.

They stepped off the elevator and Nick had to gently grab her shoulders and direct her in the direction of the loft instead of her apartment.

Jess laughed. "I'm going to have to get used to that aren't I?"

"Yes, because we can not have you going into your apartment right now,"

"Oh, so you have met them! Are they nice?"

"They look like little kids which means we don't have any reason to interact with them," Nick opened the door to the loft and let her go in first.

Jess rolled her eyes, but didn´t argue. She wanted to see her room. "You know, I'm really interested to see how you decided to set up my room,"

Nick shook his head. "No. No, it was not just me, I already told you that. Schmidt and Winston helped,"

Jess looked at him from over her shoulder with a teasing grin as she opened the door to what would be her room for the next couple of months.

For the first time since Nick picked Jess up, his smile faltered. What would she think of his unpacking skills? He didn't doubt that she would move things around, but…was she at least happy she didn't have to pull everything out of boxes? Well, of course he didn't touch the box that said underwear, but still. That was the only box that hadn't been unpacked.

"Nick…"

Nick screwed up his face. This was it. This was when she would tell him he did a horrible job and don't ever come into her room again and how could he possibly think it was a good idea to touch her things and-

"Thank you so much. Seriously, this means so much to me," Jess said, turning to look at him.

Nick shrugged, tucking his hands uner his armpits. He knew Jess hated it when he did that, claiming his hands smelled like pits afterwards, but it was a nervous habit and damnit, he was nervous. "Well, you know…I just…" he shrugged again. "Yeah,"

Jess smiled. "But you know I'm going to move stuff around. I kind of don't want to sleep right against the window and the closet looks like it's about to burst from all the clothes. I'm probably going to have to buy a dresser or something from IKEA,"

"Well, I just wanted to do what I could to help,"

"And it's a big help. Thanks so much. Really,"

And suddenly, Nick was very aware that they were the only ones in the loft. It was a big deal, but Nick couldn't exactly pinpoint why. They had been together alone hundreds of times. Why was his brain making a big deal out of it now?

"Hey, Nick, do you know where I left…"

Except they weren't completely alone. Winston had been there the entire time.

"Winston!" Jess exclaimed wrapping her arms around Winston as he came out of his room.

Winston hugged her back and Nick saw an odd look on his face. He ignored it though, considering Winston was acting weird all day.

"You're here," Winston said, pulling back from the hug and holding her arms so he could look at her. "You're actually here. What are you doing here?"

"I live here now. Remember, roomie?"

"Yeah, but…no, you weren't supposed to be back yet. You  _can't_ be back. Wait, does Cece know?"

"No, I haven't called her yet. And I figured she would just come by to see Schmidt or something,"

"Well don't call her! I have to call her and tell her!" Winston exclaimed, letting go of her and running back into his room.

Jess frowned, looking at Nick for an explanation.

"Don't ask me. They've all been acting weird today,"


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, it's been too long since I've done an update! I apologize, but here is a brand new chapter for y'all! I seriously appreciate each and every comment though! So read this chapter, enjoy, and leave your thoughts at the end!

To the dismay of the three who were now bound together by this massive secret, there was no time for them to get used to the idea, thus making them act weird around Nick and Jess. Especially when the two of them were in the same room.

But by some miracle, neither of them picked up on the weirdness. Because for the first few days as Jess adjusted into her new living situation and job, she did end up moping, just like Schmidt had predicted. And moping down the hall Jess was a nightmare.

What made it worse, in Nick's mind at least, was that he didn't realize she was moping until almost a whole day later. He could perfectly remember walking into the kitchen that morning of her first official day of living there at the loft.

"Hey, Nick," Jess greeted, looking over her shoulder to give him a smile from the stove.

Nick muttered something about mornings before pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"Well, I'm off to work! Cecilia, would you care to walk with me?" Schmidt announced loudly from the dining table.

"Yup! See you later guys!"

Nick watched with a frown as Cece and Schmidt hurried out of the loft. Schmidt hadn't even finished his coffee. He shook his head, sipping at his coffee and deciding trying to figure out what was wrong with them wasn't worth it.

Especially as he noticed the breakfast Jess had finished making.

She had her normal two eggs with slices of tomato on her plate, but next to that plate was a bowl full of blueberry oatmeal.

Nick pursed his lips. He did not want to be the one to point it out. Because if he did, then she would get pretend she was okay, except Jess was horrible at pretending and this was going to be the first summer she ever spent away from Huxley, combined with the fact that she was starting a new job at a fast food restaurant today. All of that was a very bad combination and Nick was not ready for the emotional breakdown fest that was bound to happen.

He didn't have to point it out though. Jess noticed it as soon as she grabbed the plates to carry them to the dining table. "Oh," she said softly. She laughed a little, trying to play it off. "Whoops, looks like I accidentally made breakfast for Huxley too…I should, um…I'll just dump it down the drain,"

"Wait, you don't have to do that," Nick said, taking the bowl from her hands in a swift movement. "I'll eat it,"

Relief washed over her face and she flashed him a smile. They both sat at the dining table, Jess sprinkling salt and pepper over her food and Nick picking out the blueberries from the oatmeal.

"So are you excited for your first shift today?" Nick asked, glancing up for a moment before looking back down to pick out the blueberries. But in that quick glance, he could see Jess' face screwed up. He looked back up, his eyes widening in concern. "Jess?"

She swallowed hard. "Huxley does that. He doesn't like blueberries either and always picks them out,"

"Uh…I mean, I like them," Nick lied, picking up the ones he pulled out and dropped them back into the oatmeal. He took a bite, hiding his grimace as he felt a blueberry explode beneath his teeth. "They're delicious,"

But the damage was done. Jess had pushed aside her plate, held her face in her hands, and began crying.

For the next four days, Nick felt as if he was walking around on eggshells. Every time he tried doing something to make Jess smile, he only managed to make it worse. All because she claimed Nick acted exactly like Huxley.

Which was completely ridiculous.

There was even one instance when they were sitting in the living room, watching some 80's sitcom without incident when he began digging in between the seat cushions.

"Oh, nice! Fruit snacks!" Nick announced as he pulled out the opened bag and ate the stale snacks.

And there was a sniffle and Nick looked over and,  _shit_ , she was crying again.

But Nick had finally figured out what would pull Jess out of this mood.

Schmidt and Winston were settling on the couch about to start a movie when Nick stepped right in front of the TV, blocking them from turning it on.

"Nick, please, this week has been stressful enough. I mean, all the women at the office are on their moon cycle, Jess has been moping and you're following after her like a kicked puppy trying to fix her. TGIF, but you have to move before I can truly enjoy myself," Schmidt said, lowering the remote to glare at Nick. "It's bad enough Jess has been hogging the TV since she moved in. We don't need you interfering too,"

"I'm not following her like a kicked puppy," Nick protested, looking to Winston for confirmation.

Winston just gave a shrug. "He's kind of got a point,"

"Okay, well that's not fair because you two don't have to deal with her as much as I do! I feel like I can't even peel a banana without her sobbing on my shoulder!"

"Then don't eat any more bananas," Winston said as if it was the solution to everything.

Nick rolled his eyes. This conversation wasn't going where he wanted and he needed to redirect it. "What are you two doing right now?"

"Uh, we were going to watch a movie," Winston supplied, glancing at the popcorn and beers and scattered DVD's and thinking Nick should've known the answer to the question.

"Nope! We are going out!"

"Nicholas, no!"

"No!" Winston said, cupping his mouth to make his response louder.

"Yes! We are going out! Well, I'm going to work actually, but you two will be going to the bar and you will be taking Jess with you,"

Their protests only grew louder. Winston reached over to throw popcorn at Nick.

Nick dug out his phone to look at the time, then pocketed it. "Guys, come on. She needs to get out! Jess is going to be walking through the door any minute now. She will look like hell and she will do something horrifying, proof that she needs to start interacting with the real world again,"

"Jess is always doing horrifying things when she comes in," Schmidt pointed out, tapping his fingers against his leg as he stared at the spilled popcorn.

"Not like the stuff she's been doing lately," Nick crossed his arms. "Okay, how about this. If she does something weirder than normal when she walks in, you will take her to the bar,"

"Deal!" Winston exclaimed.

Schmidt slapped his arm. "Dude, we didn't even discuss the terms!"

Winston rubbed his arm. "Oh, we needed to discuss terms?"

The terms Schmidt wanted were never discussed. Jess walked in, wearing her work uniform and an exhausted expression. She saw them and gave a dazed smile. "Oh, hey guys! You're all here. Perfect. I've been working on something that I've been wanting to show you, but none of you are ever home at the same time anymore," she tossed her keys and purse on the side table.

"A résumé, maybe?" Schmidt probed.

Jess laughed as she moved aside the popcorn and beers on the coffee table. She grabbed a cup of pens on the edge of the table, but managed to let it slip, allowing all the pens to scatter on the floor. "Did I do that?" she asked in a near perfect imitation of Steve Urkel.

It was silent for five long seconds.

"I'm sorry. Did you just say you were working on that?" Schmidt finally asked, unable to help himself and picking up the pens.

Jess stifled a laughed. "It's Urkel!"

"Urkel?" Nick repeated. Even this was too weird for him.

"Urkel," Jess said with a snort.

"Urkel, Jess?" This was a low Nick had never seen before.

She shrugged, still laughing at her joke, "It's funny,"

"Not even in my darkest moments did I do Urkel!"

"Guys, that's crazy. This is objectively hilarious. I can do any character from an 80's sitcom. Quiz me,"

Winston rubbed his forehead, trying to get rid of the headache that just appeared. "No,"

"Oh, Alf, don't eat the cat! Get out of the city, Cousin Larry Appleton. I'm Frasier Crane," Imitation after imitation and the horrified expression on their faces grew with each one.

"No!" Schmidt yelled as he stood up. "Go get dressed! We are taking you out, getting you drunk, possibly laid, and once that's over, we are reworking your résumé!"

Jess blinked, caught off guard by his outburst. As was everyone else in the room. But her shoulders sagged and she mumbled a 'fine,' dragging her feet down the hall and into her room.

Nick looked back at Winston and Schmidt. "I will see you gentlemen later,"

* * *

True to their word, Winston and Schmidt showed up with Jess in tow. They ordered their drinks from Nick, Schmidt offering his advice on how to pick up guys while Nick and Winston corrected his advice.

In the end, they settled on don't be weird and maybe have a few more drinks before making any moves.

It didn't take long for Schmidt and Winston to abandon her at the bar counter, Winston to pursue his own conquest for the night and Schmidt on the phone trying to convince Cece to come meet them.

Jess twirled her wine glass, watching the pink liquid spin. "Do you think it's too late to call Huxley?"

Nick set down the glass he was drying and picked up the next one. "Yes, it is. Besides, you've called him like five times today,"

"But what if he misses me?"

Nick scoffed. "That kid is too busy to miss you," he faltered as he saw her crestfallen expression. "I mean, he's probably wanting to stay busy because he knows how much he'll miss you,"

Jess smiled, grateful for his attempt. She took another sip, staring in the wine glass with a distant look.

Nick felt his chest tighten. She was still moping. And she technically did have a good reason. But he hated seeing her like this and he just wanted her back to normal and-

"Hi, excuse me. Are you Katie?"

Both Jess and Nick looked at this new man that approached her. Jess' eyes widened while Nick managed to conceal a scowl.

"I'm Sam, from Cupid Match,"

"And I'm the girl from my dreams of you," Jess said in her best sultry voice.

Nick actually winced, taking a step away to let her have this. Besides, this was why he insisted they take her out tonight. To meet a guy. To have a little fling. To boost her confidence.

"You are Katie right?"

Jess coughed a little, "Yeah,"

"Finally," the man said with a charming smile as he sat next to her.

"I am. I'm Katie. Hi,"

Nick picked up a new glass to dry. Oh, this was going to be painful, watching Jess lie all night.

"Hi, so many e-mails back and forth. How's the little dog of yours?"

Nick snorted, covering it up horribly with a cough. Jess tilted her heard, struggling to not look at him with a glare. But another customer was trying to grab his attention and Nick had to leave, not knowing what lies Jess would try and get away with.

By the time he finished preparing the drink, Jess and the mystery man had moved to a booth. They were sitting awfully close, his arm practically draped around her shoulders. Nick resumed drying the glasses, trying his best not to stare but completely failing.

But then the man reached over, his fingers ghosting over Jess' nose then slowly dragging it along her cheek and tucking some hair behind her ear. And then he was moving, pressing his face into her neck. Jess climbed on top of him as best she could, knocking over her glass of wine in the process.

"If you dry that glass any more, you're going to give it a rash,"

Nick jumped, fumbling with the glass in his hands and turning to look at Winston. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Winston shrugged. "S-sounded better in my head,"

Nick rolled his eyes, setting the glass down and picking up another one to dry. Except they were all dry. He opted for wiping down the counter where he stood.

"So it seems like our mission to get Jess laid is going smoothly,"

Nick made his turtle face, trying not to look at them sucking each other's faces off. "Yeah, I don't know about this guy though. And Jess is making him believe she's someone else,"

"But the point was to give her a boost of confidence. Not to go out and establish some kind of lasting relationship with some dude,"

Nick started scratching at a dried stain with his nail. "Still don't like it,"

Winston threw his hands in the air. "But this is what you wanted!"

"Well, yeah, but…" Nick gestured towards them. "I just don't…ah!"

Winston stared at Nick as if he had suddenly turned blue. And then his expression turned thoughtful, to one of realization, to one of shock.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Winston shook his head. "Nothing, it's…if you don't like it, why don't you do something about it?"

Nick looked over at them again. They were getting up, Jess leading him out of the bar with a smile Nick had never seen before. He looked to Winston. "Are you getting another drink or what?"

* * *

Another closing shift done and another night Nick pushed aside the thoughts of what was he doing with his life. He just wanted to roll into his bed and not wake up until he had a full night of sleep.

But when he walked through the door, Jess was sitting at the table, craft supplies all around her and a photo printer whirring on the ground. She looked up and smiled at him. Not the same smile the guy at the bar got, but it was a smile that Nick liked.

"What are you doing up? I thought you'd be, you know," Nick grunted, making an odd gesture with his body.

Jess scrunched her nose. "I don't know what that was supposed to mean, but if you are referring to Sam," she grinned. "Let me just say, I had the best sex of my life,"

"So then why are you out here and not snuggling up?"

"Oh, he left," she looked down, rubbing a glue stick over some paper and sticking it onto another piece of paper. "Just a um…you know, one night stand. Which is fine. I mean I wasn't looking for anything serious and we exchanged numbers and I did end up telling him my real name and that was an awkward conversation but I just..."

Nick sat across from her, looking at her project. A scrapbook. With pictures of Huxley everywhere. Nick smiled to himself, picking up one from when Huxley couldn't be more than a few months old.

"I'm a mom, Nick," Jess finally said. "My life is at a totally different stage than any of the men I'll probably ever meet. And I just miss Huxley so much and…" she paused, pressing down a picture that was already firmly glued. "Am I a bad mom?"

"What? Jess, no! That's crazy talk. You are like one of the best mom's I know," Nick shrugged, setting the picture down. "You're just in a sticky spot right now. But Huxley loves you and you are providing the best life possible for him,"

Jess scoffed. "By shipping him off with nana and moving in with three guys?"

"You say that like it's a bad thing,"

Jess looked at him with a small glare, but the corners of her mouth upturned a little.

"Look, all I know is that for the last seven years, you have managed to raise this great kid and you did it all on your own. Yeah, you had a support system and that support system now includes us, but it's all  _you_ , Jess. You did it. So you're not a horrible mom for deciding you wanted to have a little fun tonight,"

Jess smiled, reaching over and grabbing Nick's hand. "Thanks,"

Nick smiled back, feeling Jess give his hand a small squeeze. And his stomach flipped and his chest tightened and oh, God, was this a  _heart attack_?

Nick pulled his hand back to cover his mouth as he coughed loudly. "Yeah, well," he cleared his throat, choosing to look down at the pictures instead of at Jess.

One of the pictures caught his attention. It was from one of the times Nick had joined them during the month of daily ice cream treats. Jess had taken them both by surprise with the picture, considering they were wearing what Jess referred to as the turtle face.

And Nick found himself laughing as he stared down at the picture. "Oh my God, that's a perfect imitation of me," he said, picking it up and turning it around for Jess to look at.

Jess laughed too. "You two were arguing about something stupid. What was it…?"

"The difference between a buffalo and a water buffalo. He insisted it was because they drank different types of water, but I kept telling him it doesn't matter. All water is the same. If I drink water out of the faucet here, it's the same thing as a tiger or something drinking water from a pond in Ireland,"

Jess tilted her head. "There's a few things wrong with that argument…"

"Not the point. Point is, this kid is great at impression. I mean, look at him. He's like a mini-me!" Nick grinned, looking at the picture again.

"Yeah, it's probably because he just hangs out with you so much," Jess said softly, a distant look in her eyes.

Nick didn't pick up on her odd tone though. "Guess you can be sure of one thing and that's the kid is going to be one sexy looker when he's my age," he said with a wink.

Jess laughed, taking the picture out of his hands to look at it closely herself. "That's so weird how much he looks like you. But maybe he needs these months in Portland to shake off all the Nick Miller that rubbed off on him," she said with a teasing grin.

"Hey, the Miller looks is the best thing to have in the world. Huxley should consider himself honored if he was ever somehow graced with a taste of it,"

Jess rolled her eyes. "Okay, it's bed time for you mister,"

"You're not my mom, but you've got a good point. Night Jess,"

"Night Nick," Jess responded, looking back down at the picture of Nick and Huxley.

She briefly wondered how Nick would look like with a mustache before shaking her head of that thought and printing out a few more pictures for her scrapbook.

* * *

"Jess? Jess, where'd you go?" Nick called out, setting the dinosaur pillow down and moving down the aisle.

Jess had finally convinced Nick to go to IKEA with her. She really needed a dresser and while she considered herself a strong woman, she knew her limits when it came to lifting furniture.

Nick was sure they had been in this place for three hours at least. Jess continued getting distracted with different items and time seemed to move differently in this place. And while Nick considered himself to have a good inner compass, he could not remember where the hell the entrance was, much less figure out where the exit was.

And Nick had turned his back for just a second to look at the dinosaur pillow and weigh the pros and cons of buying it for Huxley. When he turned to ask Jess' opinon, she was gone. Missing. Maybe his theory of blackholes was real and-

"Nick!"

Nick's heard shot up. "Jess?!" he heard her yell, but couldn't find her. It didn't help that he couldn't see her head over the aisles.

"Nick, over here!"

"Where?!" Nick ignored the disgruntled looks from the other customers as he basically played Marco Polo with Jess.

"Nick, stop moving! Just stay where you are!"

"Well how am I supposed to find you then?! And why is this store so damn  _big_?!"

Nick turned into an aisle and bumped into someone. Thankfully, it was just Jess. "Jessica, what the hell?" he exclaimed, grabbing her arms and looking her over for injury. "I thought you fell into a black hole!"

"I don't think you really understand the science of black holes,"

"Does anyone understand it?"

Jess rolled her eyes, but then shook her head. "Guess who just called!"

"Your little friend from the bar?"

"No, we're keeping it strictly at texting, remember? No strings attached,"

"Okay, sure, whatever. So then who called you making you disappear like a damn ninja?"

"The community college. I got the job!"

"You got the job?!"

"I got the job!" Jess exclaimed, jumping up and down.

"Jess that's great! See, I knew you were going to be teaching little brats again!"

Jess pursed her lips. "Well, it's actually a creative writing class for adults,"

"But it's still teaching!"

"It's still teaching!"

Nick grinned, grabbed her shoulders, and turned her around to walk down the aisle. "This is great, Jess. Now let's find a dresser so we can get out of this place and celebrate,"


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well....here I am with no excuse other than a simple lack of inspiration for this particular chapter. But I found it and it looks like it's going to stay and I guess you could call it a (insert preferred Holiday) miracle!

They drank and celebrated and laughed and exchanged horrible work stories and somehow all the drinks ended up on Schmidt since he was the only one at this point who could afford anything. Schmidt never complained and was the one who initiated more rounds being brought their way.

Then halfway through the night, Jess’ phone buzzed with a message. She responded with a sly smirk and Nick knew exactly who she was talking to.

Sure enough, a few moments after sending her message, Jess picked up her things and announced the call of the booty was summoning her.

Groans of disgust at her phrasing and cheers of ‘getting some’ mingled together. And Jess was gone.

The three guys continued in their drinking and laughing, but it was…different with Jess gone. Nick wasn’t sure if he was the only one who felt that though, so he never brought it up.

Jess had to start the next Monday. But instead of turning in her resignation at The Casserole Shanty, she worked there in the morning, got off half an hour before she went in to teach at her new job. By the time she got off and came back to the loft, Nick was already on his way out to the bar.

And it continued like this all week and Nick wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Jess was busy. He didn’t realize how little he would see her in between these two jobs.

But Friday came and she didn’t work as late and Nick didn’t have the closing shift tonight and it seemed like he was actually going to see her tonight.

Not that he was looking forward to it or anything. Nick didn’t miss her. Why would he miss her? They lived just a few feet away from each other! Besides, she talked a lot and sang too much, the complete opposite of what he called having a good time.

Despite this reasoning, Nick was a little surprised when he came home from his shift to find the living room empty. He was sure Schmidt and Winston had other plans, but Jess wasn’t sitting on the couch with a glass of wine, trying to gather up the courage to watch _The Walking Dead_.

He assumed she turned in early. All things considered, he didn’t blame her. It actually sounded like a nice idea and decided to get some sleep himself.

An hour into his sleep, he woke up to a soft knocking at his door.

With a groan, he got up to answer it, wiping sleep from his eyes.

“Hey,”

It was Jess. In her pink robe. Not asleep.

“You’re a big girl. You can watch _The Walking Dead_ alone,” Nick said.

“Sam booty-called me,”

Something weird rumbled in Nick’s stomach. Maybe it was that left-over Thai food. He wasn’t exactly sure how long it had been in the fridge. “Ooh, Sam, he’s so hot. I don’t care. Good night,”

“Don’t!” Jess hissed, holding the door open with her hand.

“What?”

“I need your help. I don’t know what to do. I’m terrible at casual sex. I left him in there with crayons and paper, like he’s a kid in a restaurant, and I told him I had to check my fantasy football,”

Nick raised his eyebrows at her ramble. “First, you don’t even know what that is,”

“No, sir, I do not know what that is. I panicked. Help me,”

“What about all the other times you went over to his place? Weren’t you have casual sex then?”

Jess gave a small wince. “Not exactly…I panicked then too! I can’t even remember what I told him those other times, but I made something up and we did not have sex,”

“Look, you can’t separate your feelings from sex? So what? You’re a girl,”

“I deserve to have a shorty on the side,”

“Okay, a shorty is no…that’s the wrong use of ‘shorty,’” And Nick knew he was spending too much time with Schmidt.

Jess’ door opened and she shot off to the restroom.

“Hey, I drew a cat,” Sam called out, poking his head out of the room.

And there was that weird rumbling from the Thai food. “Uh, sorry man. She’s, uh, checking her fantasy football ‘cause she…Yeah, I’m not gonna do this, so I-I don’t even…” Nick shut the door.

He needed to sleep this weird stomach bug off.

* * *

 

Jess shuffled into the kitchen, shaking her head as she held her coffee and sat at the table. Perfect, the guys were already gathered so she could share her news. “Last night was horrible,” she started, interrupting their discussion about Schmidt looking like a Romney. “Sam came over, we tried to make out, I stopped it, and then we just laid there, like two old people in _The Notebook_ waiting to die," 

“Wait, why are you suddenly having problems? Haven’t these booty calls been a frequent thing?” Winston asked.

“Yeah, but then she chickens out,” Nick clarified.

Schmidt shook his head. “Just one quick question so we’re clear on things. Did you have any pictures of Huxley out last night?”

“What?” Jess asked, her voice going up an octave.

“Well? Sometimes it can be off putting to the man if he sees picture of a child he’s never met. So it might not just be you,”

Jess fidgeted. “No, I put them away before he came over because he doesn’t need to know about him. Sam is just a fling and he doesn’t need to get involved in my personal life,”

“Which is exactly why you need to ease into these kind of things. Let us take you out tonight, okay?” Schmidt said, gesturing to the three of them.

Nick shook his head and continued shaking his head as Schmidt explained his plan.

“And that way, you…you can feel like,  you know, you’re going on a date first,”

“Yes!” Jess exclaimed with an excited grin. “Like we’re all dating in a large, nonsexual friend group,”

Winston joined Nick in shaking his head and grimaced at Jess’ poor choice of words.

Nick jumped from the bar stool. “My nightmare. Have fun. I’m out,”

“Come on, Nick. Please?” Jess asked, tilting her head a little in hopes of sympathy.

“Why are you doing this, Jess?” Nick asked, settling back onto the bar stool. “Why don’t you just date a guy that, I don’t know, you like and that you don’t feel you have to hide Huxley from,”

“This is good for me,” Jess argued. “I always jump into relationships and I don’t want to always be bringing home guys for Huxley to meet. Plus, Sam’s not the kind of guy you spend Saturdays in your sweatpants with. He’s the kind of guy…you bone,” she ended in a whisper.

Nick shook his head. “I can’t help. I’m at a crucial point in my zombie novel,”

“You selfish bastard,” Schmidt accused.

“I’m not a selfish bastard. I just have to…I have to get through…”

“You’re a selfish bastard. I’m so sick of this zombie novel nonsense,”

“Not nonsense,”

“Friends help friends have meaningless sex, okay? And you especially owe this to her,”

Nick frowned with his turtle face. “Me especially? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Schmidt’s cheeks matched the pink whales on his belt. “I mean…because…well, you know…”

“No, Nick. Now you’re going!” Winston exclaimed, pushing his chair back as he stood. “End of story,”

Three pairs of eyes turned to Winston at his sudden outburst. And Winston held back from glaring at Schmidt.

Nick gave a resigned smile. “Fine. You got it,”

* * *

 

“Where are you, Schmidt? This place is fancy and I don’t know which fork to kill myself with,” Nick hissed into his phone, not caring if he grabbed the attention of the other patrons. 

He was sure his clothes had already done that. He hadn’t bothered changing out of his clothes from earlier. Just a long sleeve and a pair of jeans. Nothing special. Because he had no idea this restaurant was going to be this fancy.

Schmidt started to give him some kind of story about going to a club because Kanye was going to be there and he needed to show him stupid pink whale belt.

“What are you talking about? This was your idea!”

_“Can’t miss this, Nick. I got the belt on, I took Winston with me to prove that I can be friends with black people, even oddly shaped ones,”_

“Just shut up, Schmidt! Shut up! This is ridiculous. I’m leaving right now. Good bye,” he flipped his phone shut and stood up to leave.

But then Jess walked in. And she looked…

 _Amazing_.

She gave a little wave as she walked towards him.

“Whoa,” Nick said, a surprised chuckle leaving his mouth as his eyes took in the red dress and trying not to linger on how it fit her body. “Wow. I forgot what you look like when you’re not dressed like the Loft Troll,”

“Pardon?”

Nick winced. “Sorry, I didn’t…what I mean to say is you look va-va-va-vavooms!”

Oh God, he was screwing this up…whatever _this_ was.

But Jess snorted, obviously restraining herself from laughing loudly.

“Hello, nurse!” Nick continued, “Hubba-bubba! Meow! Zing! You can stop me at any time,”

“Are the guys coming, or…?”

“No, it’s just us. They bailed. So if you want to go back to the loft, or we can both go back to the loft,” What was wrong with him? He was rambling like an idiot!

“We’re already here,” Jess interrupted with an easy smile.

“But we’re already here, so…”

And her smile grew and Nick couldn’t believe that Thai food from yesterday was still affecting him. “Can I get you a chair, milady?”

Jess chuckled. “So weird,” she said under her breath as Nick pulled out her chair. Then, “Loft troll! Not used to fancy gentleman,”

Nick winced, knowing they now had the attention of the entire restaurant. But he laughed because it didn’t seem like Jess cared. “Shut up,”

“That was loud,”

“Why are you yelling?”

And she kept laughing and Nick wasn’t sure he had ever seen her smile that bright.

Nick took his seat while Jess looked through the menu, her eyes growing wider the longer she looked. “This place is crazy expensive,”

“Schmidt picked it. I can afford the valet charge and the ‘add onions,’”       

“Then you’ll be happy to meet my little Scottish friend,” Jess leaned over to pull a thermos out of her purse.

Nick’s jaw dropped. “You unexpected genius. Is that whiskey?”

“White wine,”

“White wine?!” Oh, but that was too loud. He looked behind to see if anyone was watching them. Specifically, any staff members. “Why would you do white wine?” he whispered.

Jess just grinned, her shoulders bopping up to show her glee. She looked around before opening the thermos and pouring herself a glass. “Would you care for some?”

Nick shrugged. “All right, fine. But next time bring whiskey,”

She passed him the thermos discreetly under the table. Nick copied her, making sure no one was looking before pouring himself a glass.

Jess did most of the talking. Sharing about her new job and how she loved being able to teach again, even if they were grown adults she was teaching. She told Nick stories about Huxley when he was younger and how he was doing in Portland.

And Nick listened attentively. Yes, Jess talked a lot. But he was realizing he didn’t mind listening to her.

Or maybe it was the wine and the fact that it was almost done.

“Here’s the thermos,” Jess said, trying not to slur her words as she pushed it clumsily under the table into Nick’s hands.

“Thanks,” he said, not caring that a waitress was walking by.

“You know, the drunker you get, the more obvious you’re being with the thermos,” the waitress said.

Nick squinted his eyes. “’Thermose?’ ‘Thermas?’”

Jess watched him through her drunken eyes and she couldn’t stop a small smile coming on her face.

“I’m sorry. I don’t understand. What’s a ‘thermoos?’” Nick continued pronouncing it as he imagined how Schmidt would.

“That one right there in your hand,”

“Oh, the ‘thermase?’” Yeah, that one was definitely how Schmidt would say it. Nick laughed.

The waitress rolled her eyes and walked away.

Nick leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. “This is fun,”

“This is really fun,” Jess agreed.

Nick grinned at her, taking another sip from the thermos.

And then her phone buzzed.

“It’s Sam,” Jess said, sobering up a little. “He’s done with work, and he wants to ‘hang out.’” She winked and added air quotes.

“He’s got a job, too? Poke a hole in that condom,” Nick encouraged.

“Thank you, Nick!” she said, her face brightening a little. “I now feel ready to have meaningless sex,”

“I do what I can, so…”

“Hey, do you need money for the…?”

“Half the soup? No, I think I got it,”

“Loft Troll eats fancy soup,” Jess said in her deep voice again,”

Nick pushed down the over digested Thai food. “Get out of here, would you?”

Jess got up and smiled at him. Except…she was hesitating?

“Go have fun,” Nick said, hoping that would give her the final push she needed.

And Nick felt oddly lonely once Jess was out of the restaurant.

So he paid for the soup and left back to the loft.

He wasn’t sure if Winston and Schmidt were back from the club, but he knew Jess was here. And going from the soft moans, Sam was here too.

Nick poured himself a glass of whiskey and made a beeline for his room. He let out a sigh of relief as he realized he couldn’t hear Jess at all. Because that was the last thing he needed.

Before he actually climbed into bed, his phone rang. He frowned when he saw it was Huxley. “Hey little man, what are you doing up? It is like way past your bed time,”

_“I called Mom, but she didn’t answer. Is she okay?”_

“Yeah, she’s fine. She’s just…a little busy right now. Did something happen?” Nick asked, hoping he didn’t sound worried.

Huxley sniffled. _“I had a bad dream,”_

“Aw, Huxley, that’s-"

_“And I wet the bed,”_

Nick pursed his lips. God, he was so glad he wasn’t a kid anymore. “Hey, it’s all right. Accidents happen sometimes and-“

_“But I’m a big kid! I’m seven! Only babies wet the bed and I’m not a baby anymore!”_

Nick wondered if he should interrupt Jess’ session for this. But then that might seem weird and he really didn’t even want to knock on the door and Jess didn’t want Sam knowing about Huxley. “Yeah, you are a big kid, but accidents can still happen. And you want to know a secret?”

Huxley hiccupped. _“What?”_

“The last time I wet the bed I was almost eighteen years old. That’s ten years older than you!”

Of course, Nick didn’t mention that he was piss drunk at the time because he did not want to encourage underage drinking.

_“Really?”_

“Yeah. It was a little embarrassing, but it happens to everyone. I do think you should probably tell your grandma though. She’ll help you change the sheets and put the other ones to wash and you can go back to sleep all nice and clean and forget about whatever nightmare you had. Deal?”

_“Okay,”_

“All right. Good night, Huxley. Get some rest,”

_“Night, Nick. I love you,”_

“Love you too,” he responded before he could overthink his response.

* * *

 

Nick dipped his spoon into his bowl of cereal and stared at the unassembled dresser in the living room. A week later and it hadn’t been touched. He titled his head. She really needed that dresser. And assembling anything from Ikea was always a task that needed at least a full day. And Nick really enjoyed putting together furniture.

He didn’t notice the look Winston was giving him from his spot by the stove.

Jess shuffled in, still in her pajamas and eyes puffy. She plopped down in the seat across from Nick. “I had meaningless, wonderful sex last night with Sam,”

Nick frowned. She said it as if she was announcing her favorite yarn store was closing. “…except…?”

She sniffled. “Huxley called me last night. He called me three times and I didn’t even hear the phone. What if he was dying?!”

“Oh, no, Huxley was fine. Just a bad dream,” Nick said with a wave of his hand.

Jess straightened. “How do you know that?”

“Um…he called me last night too. We talked for a little bit,” he didn't mention the wetting the bed part. He wasn't sure if Huxley was too embarrassed to let her know about it.

Jess let her head fall into her hands. “I’m a horrible mother. I had to find out from my mom what happened and that was just five minutes ago and now I find out that my roommate knew about it as soon as it happened!”

“Jess, I’m going to say this again, you are not a horrible mother. You need to stop thinking that,”

She shook her head. “I just…I miss him. I miss my Hux Bug,”

“Well how about this, we go to the ice cream shop today and have a nice long video call with him. You know, it’s kind of our thing and I’m sure he’d like it too,”

Jess smiled. “Thanks Nick. After lunch?”

“Sure,”

Her smile grew and she got up and headed back to her room.

Nick stood up to put his empty bowl in the sink and noticed a smirk on Winston’s face. He rolled his eyes. “If you got something to say, my man, just say it,” 

“Hey, look, a man can only sit back and observe but for so long before he has to speak his mind,” Winston said, clasping his hands behind his back.

“Then speak your mind,” Nick said, not understanding where the frustration in his own voice was coming from.

“A line has been crossed, all right? You, my friend, have become her fluffer,”

And that wasn’t what Nick was expecting at all. “Like in porn?"

“An emotional fluffer,”

“I’m an emotional fluffer?”

“You got to set some boundaries, all right? You’re gonna start fulfilling every single need of hers, all right? Doing all the things that a boyfriend would do-“

“Winston-“

“For some other dude who ain’t doing nothing,”

“And I’m her _friend_ ,”

“You’re her _boyfriend_ ,”

“No, I’m not her boyfriend,”

“You’re a boyfriend without the rewards,”

“How does taking her out for ice cream at her son’s favorite place make me her boyfriend?”

Winston threw his arms in the air. “Do you even hear yourself? That’s _fluffing_! And don’t even get me started on how you were just staring at that dresser already planning on how you’re going to put it together for her,"

“No, this isn’t about Jess. This is about Huxley and making sure Jess doesn’t feel like a horrible mom. She deserves to have fun and every time she does, she beats herself up about it because Huxley isn’t here,”

An odd look crossed Winston’s face. It made Nick frown. “What?”

“I…uh…nope, I’m leaving,” Winston said, making his way to his bedroom. But before entering the hallway, he paused and turned around. “If you do set up that dresser, then you are definitely her fluffer,”

* * *

 

It was one of their worst arguments. Jess thought everything had been going great. They bought ice cream, called Huxley and talked with him for almost two hours. Huxley was even eating ice cream too and it felt natural and…perfect. 

They walked home, talking and teasing and bumping arms. But once they walked into the loft, Jess saw her dresser still sitting in the living room. She asked Nick if he could put it together.

And he started yelling and going on about her lunges and she yelled back and said things that she never thought she would even admit to herself.

But the worst part was when he stopped yelling and spoke really quiet.

That’s what left her speechless.

She didn’t like being left speechless by Nick Miller.

So she said the first thing that came to mind.

She was calling Sam and going on a date with him.

They just went to grab burgers and tried the whole conversation thing and she asked him about the dresser. His answer confirmed two things for her.

One: Nick really was acting as her fluffer.

Two: She couldn’t have casual sex.

Maybe if things were different, but they weren’t. She had Huxley and she honestly couldn’t imagine what her life would be without him.

Besides, maybe she just never was cut out for casual sex.

Sam asked her if they were ‘doing anything’ once they finished eating. Jess told him no. She forgot she had something to do. He just nodded and sipped the last bit of his soda with a loud slurp. He said he’d message her later and walked away.

Jess wasn’t sure if she’d respond if he did.

She went home, preparing her apology for Nick and looking up websites for tips on how to assemble Ikea furniture.

When she walked in her room though, Nick was there working on a mostly assembled dresser.

“Hey, stop. Stop, do not-“

“Jess…”

“You don’t…come on, Nick. Don’t build that dresser, please,” she said, walking up to him and taking the screwdriver out of his hands.

“Jess, it’s fine. I have another one,” Nick grabbed another screwdriver that was laying on the floor. “I need, like, three to build this thing,”

“I can’t let you fluff me!” Jess blurted. “I can’t let you work in emotional porn. You have too much to offer,”

Nick looked up at her with earnest eyes. “Forget it, Jess. I’m building you the dresser. I love this stuff. It’s like high-stakes Legos,”

“Okay, but,” Jess pressed her lips together as she sat on her bed across from him. “I didn’t know what I was doing to you. I’ve always had relationships in different boxes. Friends in one box, boyfriends in another. But now…it’s messy, and…I don’t want to screw up what I have with you. You’re too important to Huxley…and too important to me,”

“It’s different with us. We’re just two people who want to be friends, but are sometimes attracted to each other,” Nick said, trying his best not to mumble the last part.

Much to Jess’ delight.

“Ha!” she exclaimed, pointing a finger in his face.

“No, no-“

“You have thought about the reward,”

“That’s not what I said,”

Jess grinned as he blushed and looked down. “My calculations were correct,” she said in her mad scientist voice.

“I love deep lunges,” Nick admitted, looking up at her again.

And Jess laughed, already making plans to practice her lunges even more.

“Just don’t make a big deal of it. I just don’t need a bunch of people telling me what we can and can’t do together. That pisses me off. If I want to build you a dresser, I’m gonna build you a damn dresser. But if you want to have dates before sex, just do me a favor and have them with the guy you’re having sex with,”

“Agreed,”

“Good,”

“Maybe I should just stop trying with Sam. I’m old-fashioned below the belt. I’ve got a Civil War-era piece of equipment and that’s all she wrote,”

Nick scrunched up his face at her description.

Jess smirked, but it melted away. “But seriously…I think I am. I mean, when we went out and we were talking, the only thing I really wanted to talk about was Huxley and the stories he told us and how much I miss him and adore him, but I…” she shrugged and looked down at her hands. “It was a casual thing and I don’t ever want to bring casual relationships into Huxley’s life,”

Nick gave her a soft smile. “You’re a great mom, Jess,”

Now it was her turn to start blushing. “Wow, Nick. Tell me that enough times and I might start to think you have a thing for moms on top of you lunge fetish,”

“Shut up,” Nick laughed, tossing up the crumbled instructions at her.

She caught it. “Hey, you can’t just get rid of this. You need them,”

“Instructions are for amateurs. I know exactly what I’m doing. You just gotta feel the parts and let them tell you where they need to go,”

Jess rolled her eyes and kicked off her shoes.

Nick kept on working on the dresser and they talked while he worked. Mostly about Huxley, but neither of them cared.

Her phone buzzed as Nick was putting the final touches on the dresser and explaining that there was always leftover parts.

It was Sam, asking what her plans were for tomorrow night.

Jess didn't respond.  Instead, smoothing out the instructions Nick had crumbled to find exactly where the 'leftover' parts belonged.


End file.
